Akbas, NOztarhan, AMonteiro, ORBrown, IG2025-04-102025-04-100043-1648http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14701/40357AISI 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 ire (Mevva) broad-beam ion source, with a mean ion energy of 130 keV and at doses of 3.6 x 10(16), 5 x 10(16) and 1 x 10(17) ions/cm(2). 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 live 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. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.EnglishArticle