Abstract
Metal plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition (MPIIID) is employed to produce TiAlN hard coatings on Ti substrate. To improve the load-bearing capacity of Ti substrate, nitrogen PIII is used to prepare a bearing TiN layer on Ti-base substrate. The MPIIID process is performed using Ti50:Al50 target for different nitrogen/argon gas fractions. The effect of N sub(2)/Ar gas ratio on the microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties of TiAlN coatings has been studied. The plastic microhardness of TiAlN increases with increasing the nitrogen gas fraction to reach a maximum value of 30 GPa at 100 % N sub(2). The plasticity index and the resistance to plastic deformation increase with increasing the nitrogen gas fraction. The wear volume loss of TiAlN coating deposited on TiN substrate decreases by a factor of 10 super(3) in comparison with pure Ti. Moreover, the friction coefficient decreases from nearly 0.8 for Ti to 0.25 for TiAlN coatings. The enhanced mechanical and tribological properties of the coating are correlated with the formation of TiAlN hard phase. This phase has random-oriented microstructure, finer grain size, high oxidation resistance and residual internal stress. Moreover, the TiN interface acts as a barrier for the motion of dislocations.