Surface characteristics and wear depth profile of the TiN, TiAlN and AlCrN coated stainless steel in dry sliding wear condition

Titanium nitride (TiN), titanium aluminum nitride (TiAlN), aluminum chromium nitride (AlCrN) are hard ceramic coating material. It is coated over stainless steel (SS304) and sliding against Ti-6Al-4V alloy by using cathodic arc deposition (CAD) method, the mechanical and wear properties are improved significantly. The surface hardness, roughness and wear rate for the three coated samples are studied and compared. The wear test is carried out by using the ball-on-disc with changing the tribological parameters of the applied load (3-6 N), sliding velocity (0.32-0.75 m/s) and sliding distance (580-1500 m). It is concluded that the TiN coating on the SS304 surface offers good mechanical and tribological properties when compared to the other coatings. 3D surface profile graphs are used effectively to study the wear depth and wear surface behavior of the coated sample.