Friction and wear behaviors of Ti/Cu/N coatings on titanium alloy surface by DC magnetron sputtering

Abstract

Ti/Cu/N coatings with different Cu contents were deposited on titanium alloy surface by the DC magnetron sputtering technique. XPS and FESEM were employed to characterize the composition and structure of the coating on the Ti6Al4V substrates. In addition, The adhesion force, friction, and wear properties of the Ti/Cu/N coatings were investigated. The experimental results showed that the coarse particles of the coatings would grow more and the surface roughness increased with the increase of copper content in the coatings; The coatings showed a strong adhesion force; The friction coefficient of the coating of the samples was less than the substrate, reaching 0.19 at least. The wear resistance of the coatings could be improved by optimizing and controlling the relative content of Ti, Cu, N elements on the titanium alloy surface, especially the 10.98 at% contents of the copper. The sample C2 kept the best wear resistance.

Keywords

titanium alloy substrate / DCMS / coating / friction / wear

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