EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINATION OF BIOFILM AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SURFACES OBTAINED BY CO2 LASER GAS-ASSISTED NITRIDING OF Ti–6Al–4V ALLOY

The nitriding process is a surface treatment that improves the surface properties of titanium alloys and increases wear/corrosion resistance. This study investigates the structural and mechanical property changes in titanium alloy after nitriding. Micro-hardness differences between the nitrided and non-nitrided surface and morphological changes on the surface were determined. In addition to evaluating the effect of vanadium and aluminum ions on the nonnitrided surface, the impact of nitrided and non-nitrided surfaces on biofilm layer formation was investigated. It was determined that the TiN layer formed on the nitrided surface showed superior properties to its non-nitrided surface in the biofilm tests performed for 6 h. As a result of the tensile tests, it can be said that the nitriding process increases the elasticity module of the Ti–6Al–4V alloy and provides the material to have a more rigid structure. It was also analyzed using finite element analysis (FEA) of mechanical behaviors of the test sample under the tension loads.