Titanium aluminide coating on titanium surface using aluminum plating and surface melting

A new titanium aluminide coating method on titanium surface has been proposed, which is characterized by arc surface melting of an aluminum plated titanium surface. The arc surface melting was performed using a computer aided 3-dimensional micro welder (3DMW) designed by the present authors. The arc heat melted the aluminum plated titanium surface and produced a titanium aluminide layer of a ~300 μm thickness on the surface of titanium substrate. The titanium aluminide coated sample exhibited 500–700 in Vickers hardness number and excellent wear resistance.