THE EFFECTS OF METAL INTERLAYER INSERTION ON THE FRICTION, WEAR AND ADHESION OF TIC COATINGS

TIC coatings on 440C stainless steel (SS) substrates that contain diff erent kinds of interlayers (Ti, Cr and Mo) of different thickness were grown by magnetron sputtering. The friction; wear and adhesion behavi ors were investigated for the TIC coatings using pin-on-disk configura tion. The wear tracks of the TIC coatings and alumina pin were charact erized by optical microscope or scanning electron microscope (SEM), In serting Cr or Ti interlayer between TiC coating and substrate could im prove greatly the wear, hardness and adhesion. In wear tests the TIC c oating with Cr interlayer usually showed better characteristics than t hat with Ti interlayer. In addition, the TIC coating with 50 nm Ti int erlayer performed better than that with 500 nm Ti interlayer in the ad hesion and wear tests. It is noticed that the TiC coating could not be improved on the friction and wear behavior when metallic Mo was inser ted between the TiC and substrate resulting from the poor adhesion of the coating. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A.