Hydrogen Permeation, and Mechanical and Tribological Behavior, of CrNx Coatings Deposited at Various Bias Voltages on IN718 by Direct Current Reactive Sputtering

In the current work, the microstructure, hydrogen permeability, and properties of chromium nitride (CrNx) thin films deposited on the Inconel 718 superalloy using direct current reactive sputtering are investigated. The influence of the substrate bias voltage on the crystal structure, mechanical, and tribological properties before and after hydrogen exposure was studied. It was found that increasing the substrate bias voltage leads to densification of the coating. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results reveal a change from mixed fcc-CrN + hcp-Cr2N to the approximately stoichiometric hcp-Cr2N phase with increasing substrate bias confirmed by wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (WDS). The texture coefficients of (113), (110), and (111) planes vary significantly with increasing substrate bias voltage. The hydrogen permeability was measured by gas-phase hydrogenation. The CrN coating deposited at 60 V with mixed c-CrN and (113) textured hcp-Cr2N phases exhibits the lowest hydrogen absorption at 873 K. It is suggested that the crystal orientation is only one parameter influencing the permeation resistance of the CrNx coating together with the film structure, the presence of mixing phases, and the packing density of the structure. After hydrogenation, the hardness increased for all coatings, which could be related to the formation of a Cr2O3 oxide film on the surface, as well as the defect formation after hydrogen loading. Tribological tests reveal that hydrogenation leads to a decrease of the friction coefficient by up to 40%. The lowest value of 0.25 ± 0.02 was reached for the CrNx coating deposited at 60 V after hydrogenation

Formation of Cr-Zr gradient layer by magnetron sputtering and ion mixing

The gradient Cr-Zr layer was formed onto Zr-1Nb substrate by magnetron sputtering of chromium and zirconium targets and ion mixing (Ar+ with 25 keV). The distribution of Cr and Zr elements in the deposited coatings was measured by using a glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy. The optimal ion fluence onto the substrate was 8×1019 ion/m2. At higher ion dose, the intensive sputtering of the deposited coating was observed

Hydrogen Sorption Kinetics of SiC-Coated Zr-1Nb Alloy

This paper describes the influence of silicon carbide (SiC) coating on hydrogen sorption kinetics of zirconium alloy E110 (Zr-1Nb). Amorphous SiC coating of 1.5-μm thickness was deposited on Zr-1Nb alloy substrate by direct current magnetron sputtering of composite cathode. Hydrogen absorption by SiC-coated Zr-1Nb alloy significantly decreased due to low hydrogen permeability of the coating. Hydrogenation tests show that SiC coating provides protective properties against hydrogen permeation in the investigated temperature range of 350–450 °C. It was shown that hydrogenation of uncoated Zr-1Nb leads to formation of δ hydrides at 350 °C and δ and γ hydrides at higher temperatures whereas in the SiC-coated Zr-1Nb alloy only δ hydrides formed. Gradient hydrogen distribution through the SiC coating and H trapping in the carbon-rich interface was observed. The adhesion strength of the coating was ~5 N. Hydrogenation up to 450 °C for 5 h does not degrade the adhesion properties during scratch testing

The Formation of Composite Ti-Al-N Coatings Using Filtered Vacuum Arc Deposition with Separate Cathodes

Ti-Al-N coatings were deposited on high-speed steel substrates by filtered vacuum arc deposition (FVAD) during evaporation of aluminum and titanium cathodes. Distribution of elements, phase composition, and mechanical properties of Ti-Al-N coatings were investigated using Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and nanoindentation, respectively. Additionally, tribological tests and scratch tests of the coatings were performed. The stoichiometry of the coating changes from Ti0.6Al0.4N to Ti0.48Al0.52N with increasing aluminum arc current from 70 A to 90 A, respectively. XRD and TEM showed only face-centered cubic Ti-Al-N phase with preferred orientation of the crystallites in (220) direction with respect to the sample normal and without precipitates of AlN or intermetallics inside the coatings. Incorporation of Al into the TiN lattice caused shifting of the (220) reflex to a higher 2θ angle with increasing Al content. Low content and size of microdroplets were obtained using coaxial plasma filters, which provides good mechanical and tribological properties of the coatings. The highest value of microhardness (36 GPa) and the best wear-resistance were achieved for the coating with higher Al content, thus for Ti0.48Al0.52N. These coatings exhibit good adhesive properties up to 30 N load in the scratch tests