Fatigue performance and tribological properties of r.f. sputtered TiN coatings

Abstract TiN coatings were deposited onto steel substrates and grey cast iron by means of an r.f. sputtering unit by varying systematically the deposition parameters bias voltage and deposition time. The fundamental properties such as adhesion, hardness and structure were determined and correlated with results of investigations of the wear and fatigue properties of the coated samples. It was shown that the coatings with high hardness combined with good adhesion to the substrate have the best wear properties. The fatigue resistance increased by about 10% as a result of the coating process and was only negligibly influenced by variations in the deposition parameters.