Beam Assisted Deposition Film for Improving Fretting Fatigue Resistance of Ti-8Al-1Mo-1V Alloy at Elevated Temperature

Abstract

Ion-beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) was investigated as a potential way to increase the fretting fatigue resistance of Ti-8Al-1Mo-1V alloy at elevated temperature. Three coating systems, hard TiN film with good toughness and soft Al film of low friction and Cu/Ni multilayer films with modulation period thickness of 20~600nm have been applied on the base material. Coefficients of friction and fretting fatigue lives of the specimens with and without film were compared. The film damage was characterized through scanning electron microscopy. The results indicate that the IBAD technique can prepare all films with high bonding strength and excellent lubricating properties. The fretting fatigue life of the Ti-8Al-1Mo-1V alloy with the TiN film was improved by a factor of 2.4 as compared to the uncoated substrate at elevated temperature because of the excellent wear and fatigue resistance and good toughness of the film. Excellent wear resistance and good anti-fatigue properties could be simultaneously obtained by a single hard film to control the fretting fatigue damage. The IBAD Al film significantly improved the fretting fatigue resistance of the Ti-8Al-1Mo-1V alloy at elevated temperature for good lubricating property. The fretting fatigue resistance of the Ti-8Al-1Mo-1V alloy was improved by all the Cu/Ni multilayer films. However, the fretting fatigue resistance did not increase monotonically with the modulation period of the films. Films with a modulation period of 200 nm had the highest fretting fatigue resistance among the multilayer films prepared owing to their high toughness and strength and good lubricating and anti-fatigue action. The fretting fatigue resistance of films with a modulation period of 20 nm was low because of the poor fracture toughness and crack propagation resistance, even though these films had the highest hardness and good fretting wear resistance. Thus, comprehensive properties, including high toughness and strength, must be considered for multilayer films used to improve the fretting fatigue resistance of titanium alloys.