Affiliation: | a Advanced Technology Research Laboratories, Nippon Steel Corp., 1618 Ida Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki 211, Japan b Hikari R and D Laboratory, Nippon Steel Corp., 3434 Shimata, Hikari, Yamaguchi Pre. 743, Japan c New Materials Division, Nippon Steel Corp., 2-6-3 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-74, Japan d Centro Sviluppo Materiali 100/102, Via di Castel Romano, Roma 00129, Italy |
Abstract: | A new coil-coating pilot plant, capable of utilizing ion plating, sputtering and plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (PACVD) processes, independently or in series, was developed and optimum conditions for TiN, TiC, AlxOy, SiOx and Cr coating were established. This paper is mostly concerned with the results of characterization (conducted in parallel by the authors′ two institutions) of TiN films deposited by ion plating or sputtering onto type-304 stainless steel strips. In particular, the dependence of the basic properties such as chemical composition, structure, adhesion, and color on the coating process are discussed with respect to anti-corrosion, anti-wear, and decorative applications. TiN coatings with a very attractive gold coloration were obtained; they performed well in wear testing, but did not show satisfactory corrosion resistance. However, it was found that the latter can be improved significantly by depositing a SiOx, top layer by PACVD above the TiN coating. Thus the in-line dry coating processes are capable of producing highly functional steel surfaces with decorative color and high corrosion resistance. |