Effect of high-power ion beams on the surface topography and structure of submicrocrystalline titanium alloy subsurface layers

The study covers the topography and structural phase state of VT1-0 and VT6 submicrocrystalline titanium alloy subsurface layers irradiated by high power pulsed carbon ion beams (ion energy is 250 keV, pulse duration is ~100 ns, pulse current density is 150–200 A/cm2; surface energy density of a single pulse is j ~ 3 J/cm2 when irradiating VT1-0 titanium alloy samples and j ~ 1 J/cm2 when processing VT6 titanium alloy samples; pulse number is 1, 5, 10, and 50). The surface of samples was subjected to preliminary mechanical grinding and polishing before irradiation. It was shown that surface defects are formed on the surface of the alloys after irradiation, namely craters of different shapes and geometries with a diameter from fractions of a micron to 80–100 μm. At the same time, the grain structure in the subsurface layer becomes more homogeneous in terms of grain size and equiaxial properties. The initial state of titanium alloys is characterized by a fairly homogeneous structure with an average grain size of ~0,31 μm for VT1-0 and ~0,9 μm for VT6. After one irradiation pulse, grain growth to 0,54 μm in the transverse direction is observed in the subsurface layer of the VT1-0 alloy (j ~ 3 J/cm2), while grain size decreases to ~ 0,54 μm in the VT6 alloy (j ~ 1 J/cm2). After 50 pulses, the average grain size in the subsurface layer reaches ~2,2 μm for the VT1-0 alloy and ~1,6 μm for VT6. It should be noted that a rather uniform structure with equiaxed grains is formed as early as after treating with 1 high power ion beam pulse.