Substrate effect on the morphology, structural and tribology properties of Titanium carbide thin film grown by RF Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract

Substrate - coating behaviour plays a crucial role in determining the efficacy of the resulting properties of thin film coating. This research work studies the impact of two different substrates (Ti6Al4V and CpTi) on the mechanical properties of Titanium carbide thin film coating deposited using RF Magnetron Sputtering. The tribology properties were characterized using Nanoscratch and Tribo-tester. GIXRD and FESEM were used to study the structural and surface morphology of the coatings. The micrograph images of the FESEM show a similar trend for the film distribution while the GIXRD highest peak intensities vary for the coating. Spallation, bending crack and delamination of the film were noticed under high load condition and the micro-scratch result shows good adhesion between the coating and the substrates.