Abrasive wear behaviour of nano-TiN coated AISI D3 tool steel

Abstract

In this study, the effect of nano-TiN layer obtained by PVD method on tribological behaviour of X210Cr12 (1.2080, AISI D3) cold work tool steel was investigated. Coating process was carried out by cathodic-arc PVD method using 200 V voltage, 350 °C temperature, 4x10-4 mbar pressure, and 50 A current application conditions. The characterization of the coating was carried out by FESEM and SEM-EDS analysis. The coated and uncoated samples were subjected to abrasive wear test against to 220 mesh sandpaper under 3 different loads (5, 10, and 20 N). The tests were applied at three different sliding distances (100 m, 200 m, and 600 m) keeping the sliding speed as constant at 2,6 m/s. For uncoated samples, while the applied load increased from 5 N to 20 N, the approximate wear loss increased by 10 and 8.5 times, respectively. The approximate wear loss increased by 2.2 and 12.2 times, respectively in nano-TiN coated samples. When compared to the coated and uncoated samples, the wear loss values obtained in the coated samples at sliding distances of 100 m and 200 m differed greatly from uncoated samples, under same conditions almost 100%. However, when the sliding distance reached 600 m, the gap started to close and the gap decreased to 30%. Under the same conditions, the wear rate of the coated samples decreased up to 15 times compared to uncoated samples.