Tribological performance evaluation of (1 1 1) preferred oriented TiN duplex coatings

The duplex surface coating of hot work tool steel, which comprises nitriding of a substrate and coating of a TiN layer, has been the subject of a series of studies as a potential surface modification for tools and machine parts. Through sliding experiment against an aluminum alloy without lubrication, it was shown on a wear map that there are two domains depending on sliding conditions: the wear domain and the transfer domain. In this study, focusing on the improvement in the tribological properties of the duplex coating in terms of the wear domain, the effects of film characteristics on film resistance to erosion wear and film life were investigated. Two kinds of duplex coatings with different film characteristics were prepared by hollow cathode discharge ion plating: a newly developed TiN film with a strong (1 1 1) orientation and an ordinary TiN film with (1 1 1) and (2 0 0) orientations. The erosion wear rate of duplex coating was evaluated by a micro slurry jet erosion test. Film life was evaluated by a sliding test against an aluminum alloy as in previous experiments. It was revealed that the duplex coating with the newly developed TiN film (N-coating) shows higher erosion resistance than previously reported duplex coating (C-coating). From the sliding test, it was also revealed that the N-coating whose XRD intensity ratio of (1 1 1) to (2 0 0) is over 100 shows a wear mode with only chipping, with no scratching, which shortens film life. The film life of N-coating increases about twice as long as C-coating, which has shown higher performance than a conventional duplex coating. Possible mechanisms of the improvement in the tribological properties with N-coating are discussed.