Wear, cilt.252, sa.7-8, ss.540-545, 2002 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
AISI D3 tool steel was ion implanted with zirconium and the improvement in surface tribological properties investigated. The Zr ion implantation was done using a metal vapor vacuum arc (Mevva) broad-beam ion source, with a mean ion energy of 130 keV and at doses of 3.6 × 1016, 5 × 1016 and 1 × 1017 ions/cm2. Wear, friction and hardness of the implanted samples were measured and compared to the performance of unimplanted steel. The wear resistance was increased by about a factor of two, the friction remained about the same or was possibly increased by a small amount and the near-surface hardness was improved by a factor of five or more by the ion implantation. We also investigated the effect on the Zr implantation profile of the multi-component energy distribution of the ion beam. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.