Ion beam surface treatment: A new capability for surface enhancement

Technical Report · Fri Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10163775· OSTI ID:10163775

Stinnett, R W; McIntyre, D C; Buchheit, R G; Neau, E L ^[1]; Greenly, J B; Thompson, M O ^[2]; Johnston, G P ^[3]; Rej, D J ^[4]

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1. Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
2. Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
3. Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)
4. Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)

The emerging capability to produce high average power (5--350 kW) pulsed ion beams at 0.2--2 MeV energies is enabling the authors to develop a new, commercial-scale thermal surface treatment technology called Ion Beam Surface Treatment (IBEST). This new technique uses high energy, pulsed ({<=}250 ns) ion beams to directly deposit energy in the top 2--20 micrometers of the surface of any material. The depth of treatment is controllable by varying the ion energy and species. Deposition of the energy with short pulses in a thin surface layer allows melting of the layer with relatively small energies and allows rapid cooling of the melted layer by thermal diffusion into the underlying substrate. Typical cooling rates of this process (10{sup 9}--10{sup 10} K/sec) cause rapid resolidification, resulting in the production of non-equilibrium microstructures (nano-crystalline and metastable phases) that have significantly improved corrosion, wear, and hardness properties. The authors conducted IBEST feasibility experiments with results confirming surface hardening, noncrystalline grain formation, metal surface polishing, controlled melt of ceramic surfaces, and surface cleaning using pulsed ion beams.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 10163775
• Report Number(s): SAND--93-2775C; CONF-940634--9; ON: DE94014663; BR: GB0103012
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360101
360201
665300
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ACCELERATORS
ALLOYS
ALUMINIUM ALLOYS
ALUMINIUM OXIDES
CERAMICS
CORROSION RESISTANCE
ENERGY DEPOSITION
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
HARDNESS
INTERACTIONS BETWEEN BEAMS AND CONDENSED MATTER
MELTING
METALS
MICROSTRUCTURE
PREPARATION AND FABRICATION
SOLIDIFICATION
SURFACE TREATMENTS
TITANIUM BASE ALLOYS