JMEPEG (2021) 30:3726–3734 ÓASM International

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-021-05654-y 1059-9495/$19.00

Double Glow Plasma Nitriding Pretreatment

of TiAlN-Coated TA15 Alloy for Enhancement of Bonding
Strength and Mechanical Properties
Jiale Cheng, Wenping Liang, Qiang Miao, Shiwei Zuo, Mengjuan Yin, and Haiyang Yu

Submitted: 24 September 2020 / Revised: 21 February 2021 / Accepted: 28 February 2021 / Published online: 25 March 2021

As a classic hard coating, titanium aluminum nitride (TiAlN) coating is widely applied in the aviation field
due to its extremely high hardness and strength. Unfortunately, the large difference in hardness and
thermal expansion coefficient between the coating and the substrate could also lead to the reduction of
bonding force. In this paper, Double-glow plasma nitriding (DGPN) pretreatment followed by RF mag-
netron sputtering was used to prepare DGPN-TiAlN coating on the surface of TA15 alloy. The adhesion and
the bearing capacity of DGPN-TiAlN coating is characterized by scratch and indentation tests. The gradient
hardness support and stress transition effect of the nitriding layer are significant, and the bonding strength
of TiAlN coating and the substrate are significantly improved. In addition, the high temperature wear
resistance and erosion resistance of DGPN-TiAlN coating were detected through high-temperature wear
tests and sand erosion tests. At 500 °C, the surface of DGPN-TiAlN coating formes a dense Al2O3 lubri-
cating film with good adhesion, and the friction coefficient is lower than that of TiAlN coating. Under
different erosion speeds and erosion angles, the erosion rate of DGPN-TiAlN coating is lower than that of
TiAlN coating, and the coating surface defects are less.

peeling-off of large area around the pits of TiAlN coating in

Keywords Bonding strength, bearing capacity, double-glow
plasma nitriding, erosion resistance, high
temperature tribological, TiAlN coating, TA15 alloy
1. Introduction
TiAlN coating is characterized by the advantages of high
hardness, good oxidation resistance, good thermal hardness and
low friction coefficient, which is especially suitable for high-
speed cutting of high alloy steel, stainless steel, titanium alloy
and nickel alloy at high working temperature (Ref 1-3).
However, as per the previous researchers, ‘‘egg shell damage’’
may easily occur between TiAlN coating and the substrate due
to the difference of hardness and thermal expansion coefficient
when TiAlN coating suffers from abrasion at 500 °C or higher,
or the impact of erosion particles (Ref 4, 5). In addition, due to
the property mismatch, the bearing capacity of the whole
coating / substrate system fails to reach the expected effect.
Previously, many methods are used to improve the property
matching between TiAlN coating and the substrate. One is the
addition of transition layer, Jintao Shuai et al. added Zr, Ti,
TiAl metal layers, as the intermediate layer, available to
coordinate deformation, and prevent crack propagation, respec-
tively (Ref 6-8). Obviously, the Zr interlayer avoids the
Jiale Cheng, Wenping Liang, Qiang Miao, Shiwei Zuo,
Mengjuan Yin, and Haiyang Yu, Department of Material Science
and Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics,
Nanjing 210016, China. Contact e-mails: 1227232702@qq.com,
wpliang0905@163.com, miaoqiang@nuaa.edu.cn,
z19850825921@163.com, tely129ymj@163.com, and
haiyangyu@nuaa.edu.cn.
the 60kg-load Rockwell indentation test, while in the 50N-load
scratch test, the number and amplitude of AE signal of single-
layer TiAlN are much larger than those of Ti / TiAlN coating
system. In addition, for the intermediate layer, Aneta Wilczek
et al. prepared hard coatings that are very conducive to stress
transfer, such as ZrN, CrN and W2N (Ref 9-11). Obviously, the
hardness of TiAlN / ZrN multilayer coating is about 38 GPA,
that is, 30% higher than that of the TiAlN monolayer. In the
meantime, the elastic modulus of TiAlN / CrN multilayer
coating is 30% higher than that of monolayer TiAlN, that is,
about 400 GPa. The specific wear rate of TiAlN/W2N
multilayer coating reaches about 3 9 10 6 mm3 (nm) 1, which
is much lower than that of single-layer TiAlN. Although these
two methods are available to improve the overall performance
of TiAlN coating system, it is difficult to adjust the thickness
ratio of the transition layer and TiAlN coating.
In recent years, nitriding layer prepared with some novel
methods is used as the transition layer between the coating and
the substrate. Yang et al. used IBAD (with the working voltages
of 2000 V) to pretreat the surface of c-TiAl alloy by nitrogen
ion implantation (Ref 12), thereby eliminating the coating/sub-
strate interface, and forming a mixed nanometer-scale (about 30
nm) transition zone composed by Al-N and Ti-N bonds, which
effectively improved the adhesion strength between TiAlN
coating and c-TiAl alloy. Raza et al. used cathode cage plasma
nitriding (CCPN) to pretreat AISI-304 stainless steel (Ref 13)
before depositing TiN coating. It was found that CCPN
pretreatment (at the temperature of about 400 °C) could
eliminate the inherent defects of TiN coating, and the nitriding
layer (expanded austenite of about 4 lm) could also be used as
the ‘‘adhesive’’ of steel surface. In general, traditional nitriding
uses hydrogen and ammonia the prepare the nitriding atmo-
sphere, which inevitably leads to ‘‘hydrogen embrittlement’’.
Besides, nitrogen ion implantation and plasma nitriding also

3726—Volume 30(5) May 2021 Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

Table 1 Parameters for deposition of the TiAlN coating with DGPN pretreatment
Step Process Parameters

1 Glow discharge cleaning Pressure: 35 Pa Substrate bias (V): 300

Time: 30 min
2 Double-glow Plasma nitriding (DGPN) Pressure: 35 Pa Vsource (V): 920
Time: 6 h Vcathode (V): 520
fAr2(sccm): 35
fN2(sccm): 75
3 Depositing TiAlN Pressure: 0.4 Pa RF power (W): 300
Time: 3 h
Target spacing: 20 mm
fAr2(sccm): 35
fN2(sccm): 66

have some problems, such as thin nitride layer, high power

consumption and low nitriding temperature.
As a new and efficient plasma nitriding treatment in recent
years, Double-glow plasma nitriding (DGPN) pretreatment was
used to prepare nitriding transition layer, which adopts Double-
glow plasma surface alloying (Xu-Tec process) technology (Ref
14, 15), thus adding a third electrode between the anode and
cathode of traditional plasma nitriding with higher plasma
density and higher nitriding temperature (about 1000 °C).
Furthermore, due to the hollow cathode effect, Double-glow
can overlap in a very small area to achieve local heating of
sample without increasing the temperature of the whole furnace,
thus reducing the energy consumption to the greatest extent. In
general, DGPN is characterized by the advantages of low
operating voltage, high nitriding temperature, high nitriding
speed, thick nitriding depth and low energy consumption. Zuo
et al. used the DG method to synthesis carbonitriding coatings on
300 M steel (Ref 16) substrates of which the compound layer is
uniform, dense and without obvious pores. It can be seen that, Fig. 1 Schematic of the basic parts structure for Double-glow
ranging from the carbonitriding layer to 300 M steel, the plasma nitriding (DGPN) pretreatment
microhardness increases gradually from 5.3 ± 1.2 gpa to 10.1 ±
1.6 gpa and presents a gradient change. Although many other bonding strength between the film layer and the substrate, as
attempts to combine plasma nitriding with PVD hard coatings well as the diffusion ability of elements on the surface of
(Ref 17-20) are made, the combination of DGPN pretreatment samples. Figure 1 shows double-glow plasma nitriding (DGPN)
and hard coatings was not found, and the effect of hardness device schematic, after the device was extracted to the ultimate
gradient of transition layer has not been explained clearly. vacuum, argon and nitrogen were introduced, and the source
In this paper, DGPN pretreatment followed by RF magnetron (Ti target) was charged with a DC voltage of 920 V to generate
sputtering was used to prepare DGPN-TiAlN coating on the a glow discharge that frees the nitrogen atoms from the nitrogen
surface of TA15 alloy. The effect of nitriding transition layer gas. A 520 V DC voltage was then applied to the cathode
prepared by DGPN on the bonding and bearing capacity of (sample stage), which also produced a glow discharge. When
TiAlN/TA15 alloy system caused by hardness gradient of the sample was heated to 1000 °C, the nitrogen atoms free from
interlayer was investigated. Combined with the research direc- or deposited on the sample surface could penetrate into the
tion of TiAlN coating performance, the wear resistance and sample surface by thermal diffusion. The TiAlN coating was
erosion resistance of TiAlN/TA15 system were both studied. prepared using a high-purity TiAl target, the RF power was
increased to 300 W, and the sputtering time was 3 h. Table 1
lists the detailed information of double glow plasma nitriding
and coating deposition parameters of the TiAlN coating. In
2. Experimental addition, TiAlN coating without DGPN pretreatment was
deposited with the same parameters for comparison.
2.1 Double-Glow Plasma Nitriding (DGPN) and Coatings
Preparation
The base material is TA15 alloy (Ti-6.5Al-2Zr-1Mo-1V), 3. Phase Analysis and Microstructure
TA15 alloy substrates with 5.0-mm-thickness were cut into
pieces of 15 mm 9 15 mm, which surfaces were polished and
The surface microstructures and the cross-sectional struc-
then cleaned by ultrasonication with acetone and alcohol
tures were investigated by a field emission scanning electron
solution. Before nitriding, The sample was cleaned by 35 Pa
microscope (SEM, Hitachi S4800) equipped with energy
argon glow discharge for 30 minutes, in order to improve the

Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance Volume 30(5) May 2021—3727

dispersive x-ray analysis (EDS). The phases and crystallite size
of the coating were determined by x-ray diffraction (XRD,
Bruker D8 ADVANCE, Germany) with the Cu Ka radiation
(wavelength, 0.15418 nm), at 40 kV and 40 mA, and the 2h
scanning range was from 30° to 90°, scanning speed of 10°/
min.

4. Coating Adhesion, Bearing Capacity and Wear

The adhesion strength and the bearing capacity were

evaluated by a scratch test instrument (WS-2005, Zhongke
Kaihua Technology, China) equipped with acoustic emission
and the Rockwell C-Brale indentation tests (HBRVM-187.5,
SIOM, CAS) which carried out at different loads (588 N, 613
N, 980 N and 1471 N). The nano-hardness was measured by Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of erosion wear tester
nano-indenter (Agilent G200 Nanoindenter, Agilent Technolo-
gies Inc.) using the continuous stiffness measurement (CSM)
modes. In this research, the maximum loading force is 10 mN.
The high-temperature tribological behaviors were investigated
using a THT07-135 ball-on-disc tribometer (CSM, Switzer-
land), and the tests were carried out at three different
temperature levels (30 °C, 200 °C, 500 °C). ZrO2 ball with a
diameter of 3 mm was used as counterparts. The friction radius
was 2 mm, the normal load keep at 3 N with a sliding speed of
360 rpm, and the test time was 15 min. SEM was used to
characterize the micromorphology of the worn surface, and the
white light interferometer was used to scan the surface and
establish a 3D image of the surface. In addition, the compo-
sition variations of the worn surfaces was determined by
Raman Spectroscopy with a laser wavelength of 532 nm.

5. Erosion experiment and erosion resistance

analysis:
A self-made sand erosion test machine is used in the erosion
experiment. Its model is shown in Fig. 2. The gas in the air
compressor is stabilized at a certain pressure through the
airflow control valve, and then the gas carries sand particles to
the surface of the sample at a certain speed for erosion. The
diameter of the nozzle is 12 mm, the distance between the
nozzle and the sample surface is 2 mm, control the erosion
angle (the angle between the nozzle and the sample surface),
and the erosion speed. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
and laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) were used to
observe the morphology of the matrix after erosion.
6. Results and Discussion
6.1 Phase and Microstructure Analysis
Figure 3 shows the XRD pattern of the TiAlN coating
deposited on the surface of TA15 alloy with and without DGPN
pretreatment. It can be seen from the figure that the main peak
is the a-Ti phase diffraction peak of the substrate, and there is a
little TiO Miscellaneous peaks (Ref 21). Through the compar-
ative analysis of the maps, it can be found that the two coatings
have Ti(Al)N phase and TiN phase. The Ti(Al)N phase
Fig. 3 The x-ray diffraction patterns for TiAlN coatings with and
without DGPN pretreatments
diffraction peaks appear at 37.5°, 43.3° and 71.5° 2h, and
their corresponding crystal plane constants are (111), (200) and
(311), it can be seen that the film exhibits a preferred
orientation along the (111) crystal plane (Ref 21, 22).
Meanwhile, the Ti(Al)N phase diffraction peak intensity is
higher after DGPN pretreatment, which means that Ti atoms in
the TiN lattice are easier to be substituted by Al atoms with
smaller atomic radius (Ref 11, 23). Because atomic radius of Al
is 0.143 nm and that of Ti is 0.146 nm, this phenomenon leads
to shrinkage in the lattice parameter and grain refinement which
provides a prerequisite for improving coating strength and
coating adhesion.
The cross-sectional structures of the coatings show two
zones (as displayed in Fig. 4), including the TiAlN coating and
the nitriding layer. The thickness of the TiAlN coating reaches
 4.87 lm (shown in Fig. 4b), through 3-h deposition process,
and the deposition rate reached 1.62 lm/h. The coating is of
good quality and adheres well to the substrate. In addition, the
thickness of the nitriding layer reachs 7.47 lm (shown in
Fig. 4b), which would allow enhancing the stress release path
that improved the adhesion and reduced internal stress in the
coatings (Ref 17, 19). The Ti, Al and N composition profiles of
the DGPN-TiAlN coating examined via EDS are shown in

3728—Volume 30(5) May 2021 Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

Fig. 4 Cross-sectional SEM micrographs and EDS results of the (a) TiAlN coating and (b) the DGPN-TiAlN coating

Fig. 4b, in which a peak counts for the element N could be

observed in the nitriding layer. In addition, in the area of TiAlN
coating, there is a small trough for Ti and a peak for Al.

7. Mechanical Property Analysis

The elastic work (We) of the material is represented by the

shadow area under the unloading curve, while the plastic work
(Wp) of the material is represented by the shadow area between
the loading curve and the unloading curve. The ratio of We to
Wp is a specific value to characterize the property of material
(Ref 18). As shown in Fig. 5, the K value, the ratio of We to Wp,
of TiAlN coating with and without DGPN pretreatment are
0.975 and 0.734, respectively. From the aspect of stress and
energy, the advantages of high K value can be analyzed (Ref 4,
18). From the stress point of view, it was assumed that when
two materials have the same modulus of elasticity but different
We, after being loaded with the same spherical indenter load,
the larger the We, the greater the elastic deformation of the Fig. 5 The load-displacement curve of TiAlN coatings with and
material, and the stress will be dispersed so that the load will be without DGPN pretreatment
greater before plastic deformation occurs. Seen from the
capacity, due to the resilience of the elastic deformation, We after the scratch test starts, while the TiAlN coating with DGPN
will be released after loading. Then the greater the We, the pretreatment has a good bond on the nitride layer, and its
greater the energy dissipation during the loading process, and adhesive strength has been greatly improved.
the less energy is available for the material to undergo We further enlarge the peeling area of the coating, the TiAlN
dislocation slip or even plastic deformation (Ref 24). According coating without DGPN pretreatment has very little plastic
to the K value difference, it was concluded that TiAlN coating deformation, but the coating peeling off on both sides of the
with DGPN pretreatment had better bearing capacity in the scratch is very obvious, and it shows a large brittle peeling off.
surface area. When the force acts on the surface of the coating, due to the
The adhesion strength of the TiAlN coatings was measured loss of the hardness support and stress transition of the nitride
using a scratch tester, and the scratch marks were observed by layer, most of the loading force is transferred from the original
scanning electron microscope. According to ASTM standard inside the substrate to the surrounding of the coating (Ref 25,
(c1624-05), LC1 and LC2 are used to represent the normal load 26). Considering that the TiAlN coating was attached to a
values for the first crack initiation and local coating spalling, nitride layer of relatively high rigidity (see Fig. 5b), with the
respectively. Furturemore, LC2 is considered as a measure of increase of the loading force in the direction of the scratch, the
adhesion strength (Ref 24, 25). The LC2 value of DGPN-TiAlN plastic deformation of coating occurred, thus leaving a scratch
coating is 61.5 N, while the LC2 value of the TiAlN coating is groove. However, only slight desquamation occurred on the
18.6N (as shown in Fig. 6a and b). This indicates that the groove surface and the coating on both sides of the groove,
TiAlN coating has cracks and local peeling of the coating soon

Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance Volume 30(5) May 2021—3729

Fig. 6 Scratch topography of samples (a) the TiAlN coating, (b) the DGPN-TiAlN coating

Fig. 7 SEM surface images of (a) the TiAlN coating and (b) the DGPN-TiAlN coating samples after Rockwell C-Brale indentation tests at
different loads: 588 N, 613 N, 980N and 1471 N

which may be attributed to the platform support for the TiAlN
coating provided by the nitride layer of high rigidity.
Generally, TiAlN coating has ultra-high hardness but also
high internal stress and low toughness, and the high hardness
nitride layer effectively reduces the hardness difference
between the TiAlN coating and the TA15 substrate, and it
plays a role in stress transition during the loading process of the
scratching force. The supporting effect of the nitride layer can
also be found in the following experiment.
A Rockwell C-Brale indentation test was carried out to
determine the bearing capacity of the TiAlN coating. It can be
seen in Fig. 7(a), the TiAlN coating without DGPN pretreat-
ment when the load reaches 980 N, circular cracks have been
densely covered inside the round pit for indentation. Moreover,
the coating outside the round pit has begun to peel off and will
be worsened with continuous increase of load. With the
increase of the load acted on the TiAlN coating with DGPN
pretreatment, a few circular cracks appear at the edge of the
indentation pit, and no peeling was found under any load (see
Fig. 7b). The surface hardness of TA15 after DGPN pretreat-
ment is greatly improved, just like the support and stress
transition of the nitride layer found in the scratch test, which

3730—Volume 30(5) May 2021 Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

Table 2 EDS analysis of wear marks of TiAlN and DGPN-TiAlN coatings at different temperatures
T/°C Coatings Ti, at.%
200 TiAlN 63.47
DGPN-TiAlN 57.65
500 TiAlN 41.84
DGPN-TiAlN 36.67
Fig. 8 Friction coefficients of all the samples after the ball-on-disc test carried out at 200 °C and 500 °C
leads to the enhancement of the stress release path, resulting in
higher adhesion and smaller plastic deformation of the coating
(Ref 18, 24). The results of the scratch test and the indentation
test consistently show that the nitride layer can effectively
improve the bearing capacity of TiAlN/TA15 alloy system.
8. Tribological Performance Analysis
Figure 9 (a) and (b) shows 3D and SEM morphology of the
wear scars of TiAlN and DGPN-TiAlN coating tested at 200
°C. Interestingly, there are lots of striping and holes distributed
in the wear scars of the TiAlN coating compared with the
DGPN-TiAlN coating, which corresponds to the large differ-
ence in thermal expansion coefficient between the coating and
the substrate that lead the adhesion and hardness of the TiAlN
coating drop sharply and even peel off. Furthermore, We found
that the wear scar width of the TiAlN coating is wider, which
means the adhesive wear is more serious on the TiAlN coating
without DGPN pretreatment. Through EDS (see Table 2) and
thermodynamic analysis, the Gibbs free energy of Al2O3 will
be less than 0 when the temperature reaches 400 °C or higher.
That is to say there is no Al2O3 formed at 200 °C but maybe a
small amount TiO2 (Ref 29, 30). The TiO2 film has a loose
structure, which does not have a good protective effect on the
Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance
Al, at.% N, at.% Zr, at.% O, at.%
6.15 1.07 27.24 2.07
0.98 1.25 37.50 2.61
12.60 4.46 28.24 12.86
12.52 7.01 30.29 13.51
coating, even part of it falls off and causes adhesive wear (Ref
29, 31).
Owing to the formation of a tight Al2O3 film at 500 °C, the
friction coefficients of the coatings measured at 500 °C are
significantly reduced (as shown in Fig. 8). The element
compositions (at.%) inside the wear scars of TiAlN and
DGPN-TiAlN coating analyzed by EDS at 500 °C are also
present that the content of O and Al is high (see Table 2). As
shown in Fig. 10, combined with Micro-Raman analysis, Al2O3
signals were detected out-side and in-side the wear trace of
DGPN-TiAlN coating at this temperature (Ref 27, 32-34).
However, the Raman spectrum of the outside wear scar shows a
higher peak intensity. This may be attributed to the fact that
during repeated sliding, the inner Al2O3 lubricating film was
being severely damaged and shifted to the sides at the time of
constantly forming due to the compression of the small ZrO2
ball, while the outer alumina lubricating film was forming and
accumulating. In contrast, the Raman spectrum of TiAlN
coating without DGPN pretreatment shows that the Al2O3 peak
intensity is weak, which correspond to the lack of platform
support of nitride layer and the greater difference in thermal
expansion coefficient between the coating and the substrate, the
formed Al2O3 film is easy to be destroyed due to poor adhesion,
so it is difficult to form a complete and dense lubricating film
(as shown in Fig. 9d). Interestingly, compared with the TiAlN
Volume 30(5) May 2021—3731
Fig. 9 3D and SEM morphology of TiAlN and DGPN-TiAlN coating at different temperatures: (a) TiAlN coating at 200°C (b) DGPN-TiAlN
coating at 200°C (c) TiAlN coating at 500°C, (d) 500°C DGPN-TiAlN coating and (e) The typical cross-section profiles of the wear tracks of
TiAlN and DGPN-TiAlN coatings after being tested at different temperatures

Fig. 10 Raman spectra of the worn surfaces of TiAlN and DGPN-

TiAlN in-side and out-side the wear scar at test the temperatures of
500 °C
Fig. 11 The erosion rate of TiAlN coating and DGPN-TiAlN
coating, the surface of wear scars of DGPN-TiAlN coating is coating at erosion rates of 0.1MPa and 0.2MPa
intact without many deposits. Furthermore, DGPN pretreatment
not only can improve the bonding force of the TiAlN coating,
9. Solid Particle Erosion and Corrosion Properties
but also can improve the bonding force of the Al2O3 film Analysis
produced at high temperature (as shown in Fig. 9d), at the same
time provide good support for the coating, thereby improving The erosion tests of the coatings were carried out by a self-
the high-temperature friction and wear resistance of the coating. made erosion tester under 0.1 MPa and 0.2 MPa, angles of 30°,

3732—Volume 30(5) May 2021 Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

Fig. 12 SEM morphologies and 3D surface morphologies of coatings with erosion rate of 0.2MPa in different angles: (a) TiAlN coating in 90°
(b) DGPN-TiAlN coating in 90°, (c) TiAlN coating in 30°, (d) DGPN-TiAlN coating in 30°
60° and 90° at room temperature. These sand particles were
sharp and irregular with a median dimension of 75-125 lm,
which is mainly composed of CaO and MgO. Furthermore, the
erosion rates one minute after erosion were calculated by
weight loss method, due to the short erosion time, the oxidation
effect is neglected. (Ref 21, 35, 36). As shown in Fig. 11, along
with the erosion rate rose, the erosion rate of both coatings
slightly increased, which was not obvious due to the short
erosion time. However, compared with the two coatings, the
erosion rate of DGPN-TiAlN coating is slightly less than that of
TiAlN coating under the same conditions.
Figure 12 shows SEM morphologies and contour maps of
coatings under 0.2 MPa (closest to the speed of sand erosion for
an aero-engine in practice) and 90° and 30°, two most
representative angles (Ref 22, 37). TiAlN coating is seriously
eroded at 90° (see in Fig. 12a), the surface roughness is
significantly increased, and there are more erosion pits and
surface shedding in 3D surface morphology and contour map.
Under this angle, the continuous impact of particles makes the
surface crack of the coating propagate, and the extended cracks
directly interact with each other, resulting in the peeling off of
the coating. From EDS analysis, the content of Ti element in
the exfoliated area is very high, which indicates that the
substrate has been exposed. As shown in Fig. 12b, due to the
hardness support provided by the nitriding layer, the impact
kinetic energy has a transmission and dissipation path, and the
number of pits on the coating surface after erosion is small and
no spalling occurs. At 30° erosion angle, the surface of TiAlN
coating is rough, and ruptured slightly, but the surface of
DGPN-TiAlN coating is smooth. Under this angle, although
sand particles will cross the coating surface like a knife under
the horizontal force (Ref 37), it is difficult to cut the TiAlN
coating with DGPN pretreatment. Due to the hardness support
of the gradient hardness nitriding layer, the sand particles only
scratch the coating surface and accumulate on the surface, that
accumulation of yellow spots are more obvious in contour map
(as shown in Fig. 12d).
Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance
10. Conclusion
The effects of Double-glow plasma nitriding (DGPN)
pretreatment on microstructure, phase composition, mechanical
properties, wear resistance and erosion resistance of TiAlN hard
coating were studied. The main results are as follows:
(1) The DGPN pretreatment makes the TiAlN coating have
a higher K value, which indicates that the overall hard-
ness and bearing capacity of DGPN-TiAlN coating are
higher than those of TiAlN coating.
(2) As a hardness gradient transition layer between coating
and substrate, nitriding layer can provide obvious sup-
port and greatly reduce the difference between substrate
and coating (such as coefficient of thermal expansion,
hardness and Young’s modulus), which greatly improves
the adhesion between coating and substrate.
(3) DGPN pretreatment can reduce the peeling off of the
coating during high-temperature wear and improve the
density and adhesion of Al2O3 lubricating film, so as to
show better wear resistance.
(4) Under the same conditions, the erosion rate of DGPN-
TiAlN coating is slightly lower than that of TiAlN coat-
ing, which is consistent with the scratch and indentation
experimental results. Because of the support of the
nitriding layer, energy has been transferred and dissi-
pated, the erosion resistance of DGPN-TiAlN coating is
better than that of TiAlN coating.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (Grant No. 51874185).
Volume 30(5) May 2021—3733
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