Structural and tribological characterization of amorphous and crystalline titanium-nickel coatings

The interest in titanium-nickel (TiNi) alloys has increased with the discovery of the versatile properties of these alloys. In this study, the structural, mechanical and tribological properties of amorphous and crystalline TiNi coatings were investigated. The TiNi coatings were deposited with magnetron sputtering system. The crystallization process was conducted in a vacuum heat treatment furnace. The structural properties of the coatings were investigated with XRD, SEM and EDS analyses. Micro-hardness and pin-on-disc wear tests were used to obtain the mechanical and tribological properties of the coatings. AISI D2 steel, AISI 52100 steel, Aluminum 2024 alloy and copper were used as substrate materials, hence the effects of different substrates were also investigated. The highest coating hardness was obtained as 8.5?GPa and the lowest coefficient of friction value was obtained as 0.18. The tribological tests showed that the amorphous and crystalline TiNi coatings have different coefficient of friction and wear rate and using different substrate affects these properties.