Author(s)

J. R. Laguna-Camacho, J. E. Escalante-Martínez, R. Cruz-Vicencio, J. V. Méndez-Méndez, I. Arzate-Vázquez, I. Hernández-Romero, M. Vite-Torres

Centro de Nanociencias y Micro y Nanotecnologías, IPN, Mexico City, México.
Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universidad Veracruzana, Poza Rica de Hidalgo, Veracruz, México.
Faculty of Electric and Mechanical Engineering, Universidad Veracruzana, Poza Rica de Hidalgo, Veracruz, México.
Instituto Politécnico Nacional, SEPI, ESIME, Unidad Profesional “Adolfo López Mateos” Tribology Group, Mechanical Engineering Department, Mexico City, México.

In this study, the performance against erosive wear of PVD TiN (titanium nitride) coating was evaluated using an erosion test rig similar to that described in the standard ASTM G76-95. This coating normally has various industrial applications such as tapping, drilling, dry machining and punching. Angular silicon carbide (SiC) was used as an abrasive particle with a grain size of 350-450 μm. Erosion tests were carried out using different incident angles, 30°, 45°, 60° and 90° with a particle velocity of 24 ± 2 m/s, an abrasive flow rate of 0.7 ± 0.5 g/min, and the test temperature was between 35°C and 40°C. The particle velocity and the abrasive flow rate were low in all of the tests to reduce the interaction between the incident and the rebounding particles in the system. The surfaces were examined with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to characterize the erosive damage. The wear mechanisms identified were brittle fracture characterized by radial cracks on the surface by multiple impact and a few pits at 30°, while a few cracks and the formation of craters in random positions were observed at angles near or at 90°. Elliptical scars were observed at 30° and 45°, which are a characteristic feature when the specimens are impacted at low-incident angles (α ≤ 45°) whereas a roughly circular scar was seen at 60° and 90°. In addition, roughness variations were analyzed using atomic force microscopy (AFM), before and after the erosion tests, and the results exhibited an increase in the roughness as the TiN samples were impacted at angles near or at 90°.

Erosion Wear; PVD Nitride Coating, TiN; Wear Mechanisms

Laguna-Camacho, J. , Escalante-Martínez, J. , Cruz-Vicencio, R. , Méndez-Méndez, J. , Arzate-Vázquez, I. , Hernández-Romero, I. and Vite-Torres, M. (2014) Solid Particle Erosion Behaviour of TiN Coating on AISI 4140 Steel. Journal of Surface Engineered Materials and Advanced Technology, 4, 1-8. doi: 10.4236/jsemat.2014.41001.