Tribological behaviour of some alloys after surface modification using ion beam techniques

Abstract Two types of ion beam surface modifications have been performed. 1. (i) Superficial amorphization has been induced in an industrial NiTi shape memory alloy by direct ion implantation. A remarkable increase in the wear resistance and exceptional reduction in the friction coefficient has been observed for an implantation of 3 × 10 17 N + cm -2 . 2. (ii) An FeAl coating 1 μm thick on steel has been obtained by iron and aluminium evaporation simultaneously with argon ion irradiation. This coating significantly improves the tribological behaviour of this steel and presents an exceptional adherence to the substrate, which is not so if the coating is performed without ion assistance.