Fracture Toughness and Oxidation Resistance of Ti-Al-N Coatings on Stainless Steel Substrates

摘要

The effect of preliminary ion bombardment of a stainless steel substrate on the fracture toughness and oxidation resistance of Ti-Al-N coatings was studied using scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nanoindentation. The ion-beam treatment of the substrate was shown to substantially affect the micro structure and the hardness of the coatings as well as to improve their fracture toughness estimated from scratch tests. In addition, it resulted in higher oxidation resistance of the Ti-Al-N coatings under thermal cycling.