Wear of PVD Ti/TiN multilayer coatings

The wear characteristics of PVD Ti/TiN multilayer coatings subjected to two-body abrasion and particle erosion have been studied using diamond slurry and silicon carbide particles as abrasive medium and erodant, respectively. The abrasive wear rate of the Ti/TiN multilayer coatings was found to increase with the relative amount of metallic Ti in the coatings. In erosion, the lowest wear rate was recorded for the homogeneous TiN coating. For the Ti/TiN multilayer coatings the erosion rate was found to decrease with an increasing relative amount of metallic Ti in the coatings. It is concluded that the concept of multilayered coatings offers a potent means to tailor the properties of tribological coatings. In particular, demands of different applications can be met by adjusting the relative thickness of metallic Ti in Ti/TiN coatings. The amount of metallic Ti can, for example, be used to control the coating residual stress state. Multilayered Ti/TiN coatings seem promising for combined wear and corrosion protection. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.