Characterization and mechanical properties investigation of TiN-Ag films onto Ti-6Al-4V

Dongxing Du, Daoxin Liu, Xiaohua Zhang, Jingang Tang, Dinggen Xiang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

To investigate their effect on fretting fatigue (FF) resistance of a Ti-6Al-4V alloy, hard solid lubricating composite films of TiN with varying silver contents (TiN-Ag) were deposited on a Ti-6Al-4V alloy using ion-assisted magnetron sputtering. The surface morphology and structure were analyzed by atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffractometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The hardness, bonding strength, and toughness of films were tested using a micro-hardness tester, scratch tester, and a repeated press-press test system that was manufactured in-house, respectively. The FF resistance of TiN-Ag composite films was studied using self-developed devices. The results show that the FF resistance of a titanium alloy can be improved by TiN-Ag composite films, which were fabricated using hard TiN coating doped with soft Ag. The FF life of Ag0.5, Ag2, Ag5, Ag10 and Ag20 composite films is 2.41, 3.18, 3.20, 2.94 and 2.87 times as great as that of the titanium alloy, respectively. This is because the composite films have the better toughness, friction lubrication, and high bonding strength. When the atomic fraction of Ag changes from 2% to 5%, the FF resistance of the composite films shows the best performance. This is attributed to the surface integrity of the composite film is sufficiently fine to prevent the initiation and early propagation of FF cracks.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)47-56
Number of pages10
JournalApplied Surface Science
Volume365
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Mar 2016

Keywords

  • Bonding strength
  • Fretting fatigue
  • Friction factor
  • Magnetron sputtering
  • TiN-Ag
  • Titanium alloy
  • Toughness

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