The Properties of Binary and Ternary Ti Based Coatings Produced by Thermionic Vacuum Arc (TVA) Technology

Abstract

A series of the multicomponent thin films (binary: Ti-C; Ti-Ag and ternary: Ti-C-Ag; Ti-C-Al) were fabricated by Thermionic Vacuum Arc (TVA) technology in order to study the wear resistance and the anticorrosion properties. The effects of Ti amount on the microstructure, tribological and morphological properties were subsequently investigated. TVA is an original deposition method using a combination of anodic arc and electron gun systems for the growth of films. The samples were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a transmission electron microscope (TEM) accompanied by selected area electron diffraction (SAED). Tribological properties were studied by a ball-on-disc tribometer in the dry regime and the wettability was assessed by measuring the contact angle with the See System apparatus. Wear Rate results indicate an improved sliding wear behavior for Ti-C-Ag: 1.31 × 10−7 mm3/N m (F = 2 N) compared to Ti-C-Al coating wear rate: 4.24 × 10−7 mm3/N m. On the other hand, by increasing the normal load to 3 N an increase to the wear rate was observed for Ti-C-Ag: 2.58 × 10−5 mm3 compared to 2.33 × 10−6 mm3 for Ti-C-Al coating.