Investigations in anti-impact performance of tin coatings prepared by filtered cathodic vacuum arc method under different substrate temperatures

Abstract

In this study, the anti-impact performance of the TiN coatings prepared under various substrate temperatures (35, 200, 400, and 600 °C) were evaluated using a cyclic impact tester under 104 cycles. Moreover, the microstructure and anti-impact performance-related mechanical properties (adhesion strength and nano-hardness) were investigated to reveal the underlying mechanism of how the substrate temperature affects the anti-impact performance of the coatings. The results showed that the substrate temperature has a great influence on the internal stress, nano-hardness, and adhesion strength as well as the anti-impact performance of TiN coatings, and the coatings prepared under 400 °C exhibit the best impact resistance. The small internal stress, strong adhesion strength as well as high hardness and H3/E2 value for the 400 °C prepared coatings are the main contributes.