The corrosion resistance and wear resistance of thick TiN coatings deposited by arc ion plating

Thick TiN coatings were successfully deposited onto A3 mild steel by the arc ion plating process. The influence of the coating thickness on phase constitution of the coating and growth orientation of the crystallites was investigated using X-ray diffraction analysis. The results show that the lattice constant of the TiN coating decreased with the increase of the coating thickness from 6 to 12 mum. The wear resistance of thick TiN coatings was also studied, and results show that the arc ion plated thick TiN coatings exhibits excellent wear resistance and good adhesion to substrate. Investigation on the corrosion resistance of thick TiN coatings was performed in 450 ml of 1 N H2SO4 corrosion media by means of an electrochemical potentiodynamic polarization. The AIP TiN coatings with thickness of 12 and 18 mum show excellent corrosion resistance, and no clear corrosion pit was found on the surface of the coatings. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.