Effectiveness of inert plasma gases in formation of modified structures in the surface layer of a cermet composite under pulsed electron irradiation

The work studies the effect of argon, krypton and xenon used for pulsed electron irradiation in gas discharge plasma on structure formation, microhardness, wear resistance and friction coefficient of surface layers of 50%TiC/50%(Ni–20%Cr) cermet composite. The paper theoretically shows the decrease in ionization energy of plasma gas increasing the temperature and heating depth of the surface layer of a cermet composite. Experiments have established that the application of heavier plasma gases with lower ionization energy increases the depth of the layer where dissolution of TiC particles occurs, boosts wear resistance and microhardness, lowers the friction coefficient on the cermet composite surface.