Electrochemical boriding of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V

Boriding is well known as a thermochemical surface hardening method, there are several types and compositions for carrying out this treatment. In this work, a novel method based on the electrochemical boriding applied on titanium alloy at 950 °C for 30 min, this method has an electromagnetic frequency in the range of 100–500 kHz during electrolysis has been proposed and realized on Ti-6Al-4V alloy. The results obtained showed a very fast formation of boride layer, for a few minutes, of a mono-phased layer with a thickness of 55 μm and a micro hardness of 1850 HV and low fracture toughness of boride layer Ti2B. The chemical and phase composition of the investigated layers strongly influenced their hardness and fracture toughness.