Influence of Al-Content on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties in ZrAlN Coatings

Abstract

Zirconium aluminum nitride coatings have been deposited onto Ti-6Al-4V substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering in order to investigate the influence of Al-content on the microstructure and mechanical properties. The morphology and microstructure of the coatings were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Nanoindentation and Vicker’s indentation methods were employed to measure the hardness and toughness of the coatings, respectively. The results show that a structure of single cubic phase with twinning is formed at Al content of x ≤ 0.23, and a two-phase structure of hexagonal and cubic phase is formed at Al content of x ≥ 0.47. Hardness and toughness of the Zr1-xAlxN coatings show similar tendency with the increasing of Al-content. Both of them reach the maximum values at x=0.23 and drop to the minimum values at x=0.47, after that, they slightly increase with the increasing Al-content. The enhanced hardness and toughness achieved at x=0.23 is ascribed not only to single cubic phase structure but also to twinning structure.

Laser Cladding of Fluoridated Hydroxyapatite Coatings on Titanium Alloy: Preparation and Characterization

“…Titanium, aluminum and vanadium elements of the substrate moved upward through convection by laser cladding, which occurred chemical reaction to form intermetallic compounds (3Al+V→Al 3 V, 8.86Ti+1.14V→Ti 8.86 V 1.14 ). Ti element was oxidized into TiO 2 under high temperature (Ti +O 2 →TiO 2 ) [ 8 ]. The coatings and the substrate underwent chemical reactions through the combination and interaction between the atoms or molecules [8].…”

“…Ti element was oxidized into TiO 2 under high temperature (Ti +O 2 →TiO 2 ) [ 8 ]. The coatings and the substrate underwent chemical reactions through the combination and interaction between the atoms or molecules [8]. Because of the difference in energy distribution and acting time between the CO 2 laser and fiber laser, the samples F had different phase compositions in the different processes.…”

Comparison of mechanical and tribological properties of CrBN coatings modified by Ni or Cu incorporation

“…Therefore, the development of hard and tough coatings has become the objective of researchers [9][10][11]. Many studies have focused on the crack resistance modification of transition metal nitride coatings by tough metal incorporations, such as Ni [12,13], Cu [14], Ag [15,16], Au [17], Al [18], Nb [19], Ti/Al [20], and Cu/Cr [21]. As a result, the wear resistance of transition metal nitride coatings was enhanced accordingly [13][14][15].…”

“…However, the toughening degree among different tough metals in Refs. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] is incomparable since these tough metals were not compared simultaneously in one article and the hardness decrement was not considered. Namely, it is difficult to distinguish which tough metal exhibits a superior synthetic strengthening effect.…”