Tribological performance and liquid impact erosion resistance of Ti-containing amorphous carbon coatings

Ti-containing amorphous carbon (Ti-aC) nanocomposite coatings were deposited by using a modified closed field twin unbalanced magnetron sputtering system at a substrate temperature of 100 °C. The resistance of the Ti-aC nanocomposite coatings against liquid-impact erosion (LIE) was measured by using a homemade LIE tester. The coatings exhibited excellent tribological properties with a wear rate of 1.4 × 10− 16 m3 N− 1 m− 1 and are more resistant against liquid-impact erosion compared with 12Cr steel.