ABSTRACT
Fig. 1 showed X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) patterns of the QC-10 alloy and sputtering specimens with different sputtering times. For the QC-10 alloy, Al phase was the main crystal phase. After magnetron sputtering, the diffraction peak of Al phase
1 INTRODUCTION
Recently, surface treatment techniques have been developed for Al alloy and the coatings deposited by magnetron sputtering have distinct predominance because of the better adhesive and mechanical properties[1,2]. Nitride coatings can provide better protection because of their better mechanical properties and high corrosion resistance. The fundamental factors affecting deposition were deposition process parameters, surface crystallographic structure, and substrate surface roughness. The basic parameters of the technique included deposition temperature, gas pressure, and incidence angle of deposition flux[3-4]. The mechanical properties of CrNx coatings have been investigated since the 1980s, and Cr2N showed predominantly higher hardness and CrN exhibited better oxidation resistance and lower friction coefficient. However, reports on surface coatings of QC-10 alloy are scare. In this study, Ti/TiN/CrN coatings were fabricated by magnetron sputtering and the effect of thickness of Ti/TiN/CrN coatings on microstructure and hardness of QC-10 alloy was investigated. The effects of sputtering time on the cross-section morphology evolution were discussed.
