410 Tribological properties of TiN coatings with the preferred orientation of grains

Abstract

The aim is to research the frictional properties of TiN coatings with the preferred orientation of grains controlled by changing the substrate bias voltage. TiN coatings are deposited on the substrate (SKD11) by PVD arc ion plating process. In these experiments, the substrate bias voltage is varied in the range of -20 to -200V. With increasing bias voltage, the preferred orientation of grains change from (200) orientation produced at -20 and -50V to (111) orientation produced at -100,-150 and -200V. After the deposition by PVD process, the coefficient of friction are measured by ball-on-disc tester. The results obtained by ball-on-disc test show that the specimens coated at -150 and -200V have better tribological properties than those at -20 and -50V. These differences are due to the difference of adhesion force between the coated disc and the ball. It is found that tribological properties of TiN coatings depend on the preferred orientation of grains controlled by changing the substrate bias voltage.