Abstract
Microstructure of base material plays an important role in adhesion strength and mechanical properties of Titanium Nitride (TiN) coating especially to increase the lifecycle of parts when in practical use. Present study covers the influence of grain size/microstructure of plain carbon steel (tailored via heat treatment) on TiN thin films deposited by physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique. Strong effect of grain size (microstructure) on adhesion strength of TiN thin films on annealed, normalized and quenched substrates have been observed. Mechanical characterization of TiN films e.g. Elastic modulus (E), Hardness (Hv), Stiffness (S) etc. have been studied via nano-indentation technique. TiN thin films failure investigation has been performed with Micro scratch testing under progressive load. Film exfoliation under critical loads has been corroborated via scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that TiN films deposited on fine microstructure substrate possess excellent mechanical properties and good adhesion strength as compared to coarser microstructure substrate. Insights of this study might be helpful in designing engineered thin films on optimized microstructures.
Highlights
Titanium Nitride (TiN) thin films are well known for their excellent mechanical properties i.e. high hardness (H), elastic modulus (E), good wear resistance and low frictional coefficient (Fc)
Authors have investigated the effect of low-temperature metal pre-treatments in order to improve the adhesion of CNx film on steel substrates, which is critical for tribological applications
F Komarov et al [9] investigated TiN coating on AISI 304 steel substrate and studied micro hardness and wear properties
Summary
TiN thin films are well known for their excellent mechanical properties i.e. high hardness (H), elastic modulus (E), good wear resistance and low frictional coefficient (Fc). Authors used orthodox ceramic manufacturing method to prepare substrate and studied effect of microstructural grain size on adhesion strength of TiN coating. F Komarov et al [9] investigated TiN coating on AISI 304 steel substrate and studied micro hardness and wear properties. The aim of present work is to study the influence of microstructure/grain size difference of the substrate material on mechanical and adhesion characteristics of TiN coating on carbon steel. Adhesion strength of TiN films on steel substrate was studied by micro scratch tester (MST/CSM Inc., Switzerland) using Rockwell indenter with diamond tip of 100 μm radius. All the samples were ultrasonically cleaned prior to indentation and scratch testing
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