Improving the high temperature oxidation resistance of Ti-β21S by mechanical surface treatment

The improvement of the high temperature oxidation resistance of titanium alloys is currently a technological challenge. Mechanical surface treatments as shot-peening (SP) have shown their ability to improve the behaviour of pure zirconium and titanium. However, shot-peening treatments can induce a significant surface contamination. Laser shock peening (LSP) appears as a good alternative. Here, we have investigated the effect of SP and LSP treatments on the HT oxidation behavior of Ti-β21S. Samples treated by these methods have been compared to untreated ones for long exposures (3000 h) at 700 °C in dry air. The samples placed in a furnace at 700 °C were periodically extracted to be weighed. The results have been compared to that of pure commercial titanium (Ti-α) samples studied in the same conditions. The higher performances of the Ti-β21S alloy, and the beneficial effect of the SP treatment, and even more of the LSP one, on the HT oxidation resistance of Ti-β21S have been clearly shown. The effect of the mechanical treatments on the microstructure of the Ti-β21S samples and the changes induced by the long duration exposure at high temperature have been mainly studied by scanning electron microscopy combined with energy and wavelength dispersive spectrometry.