Fabricating ultra wear-resistant surfaces on titanium alloy by combining laser-induced modification with abrasive belt grinding

A novel method combining laser-induced modification and abrasive belt grinding (LM&BG) was proposed to prepare wear-resistant surfaces of titanium alloys. Comprehensively investigated the evolution mechanism of material modification and wear resistance of LM&BG samples. It was found that an oxide-ceramic-modified layer with increasing hardness (10 times) was formed by laser modification on the titanium alloy, mainly composed of TiO2, with the two phases Rutile-TiO2 and Anatase-TiO2. Moreover, the surface roughness after abrasive belt grinding of the modified layer is less than Ra0.1, with a uniform subsurface microstructure. Interestingly, the wear modes of the modified layer shifted from adhesive and oxidative wear to brittle microdetachment, significantly reducing the coefficient of friction, material wear, and subsurface damage, thus improving the wearresistant capability.