Tribological behavior of aluminum alloys implanted with nitrogen ions by plasma immersion

LD10 and LY12 aluminum alloys were implanted with nitrogen ions by plasma immersion. After the ion implantation, the microhardness of the surface layer increased and the friction coefficient decreased. With the increase of nitrogen ion dose and implantation voltage, the wear resistance of the alloys increased. The dominant wear mechanism was adhesive wear. The adhesive wear tended to abate gradually when the nitrogen ion dose increased. Such effect is mainly attributed to the formation of AlN precipitation by the ion implantation.