Tribological properties and deformation mechanism of TiAlN coating sliding with various counterbodies

• Tribological behavior of TiAlN coating is measured in the respect of steel, SiC and Al2O3 counterbodies.
• Wear modes such as oxidational and plastic deformation studied.
• Low friction is observed when steel and SiC ball slide against TiAlN coating.
• High friction coefficient is measured when Al2O3 ball slides with TiAlN coating.

Tribological behavior of TiAlN coating is investigated while sliding against 100Cr6 steel, SiC and Al2O3 counterbodies. Depending upon the type of counterbody used, two distinct types of wear modes such as oxidational and plastic deformation could be clearly observed. Wear of metal debris tribochemically reacted with moisture available in ambient atmosphere and formed metal oxide that caused oxidational wear in TiAlN/steel sliding pair. In TiAlN/SiC sliding pair, low friction coefficient ~0.17 was measured and this is attributed to the formation of a lubricious composite tribofilm. In contrast, TiAlN/Al2O3 sliding pair showed high friction coefficient and the wear mechanism is predominantly governed by plastic deformation.

Figure optionsDownload high-quality image (153 K)Download as PowerPoint slide