Deposition of TiN coatings using ACPVD technique on AM60 alloy

Magnesium alloys are reaching special interest due to their good specific properties, low cost and good manufacturing properties. However, their low hardness, wear and corrosion resistance limit their applications in certain sectors of industry. These drawbacks can be solved by applying hard ceramic coatings, such as nitrides or metal carbides. TiN is one of the most used coatings due to its high adhesion, hardness, low coefficient of friction and chemical stability. Physical vapor deposition by cathodic arc CAPVD, is a versatile technique, which uses low temperatures and high ionization energies, generating homogeneous coatings. To achieve coatings with high quality, a careful control of the manufacturing parameters is required, such as bias voltage, gas flow or intensity. This paper focuses on magnesium alloys, AM60, coated with TiN using physical vapor deposition cathodic arc technique (CAPVD) at different intensity values (40A and 100A) and surface preparation (grinding up to 4000 grit and polished to 3μm). It was included a final condition with an intermediate Al film. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, roughness, optical microscopy and scanning electron. (Author)