Development of Ti PVD Films to Limit the Carburization of Metal Powders during SPS Process

Spark plasma sintering technique is used for the fabrication of dense materials with a fine-grained microstructure. In this process, a powder is placed into a graphite mold and a uniaxial pressure is applied by two graphite punches. A graphite foil is inserted between the punches and the powder and between the mold and the powder to ensure good electrical, physical and thermal contact. One of the major drawbacks during sintering of metal powders is the carburization of the powder in contact with the graphite foils. In this study, a PVD coating of titanium was applied on the graphite foils in contact with the metal powder (pure iron). The results are promising, as the investigations show that the application of a Ti PVD film of 1.5 and 1.1 µm thickness is effective to completely avoid the carburization of iron powder. Carbon diffuses inside the PVD film during sintering. In parallel, iron diffusion was revealed inside the Ti coating of 1.5 µm thickness. On the other hand, a Ti PVD film of 0.5 µm thickness provides a protection against carbon diffusion just on the sides in contact with the mold, proving that the coating thickness represents an important parameter to consider.

Additive Manufacturing of Tungsten Carbide Surfaces with Extreme Wear Resistivity

Steel surfaces have been coated with Co-based tungsten carbide (WC) in an additive printing process. This process leads to compact and extremely mechanically stable surfaces. We performed tribological measurements using WC counter bodies under dry conditions and severe mechanical load. Low coefficients of friction, even for rough surfaces, were found and the resulting wear rates were extraordinarily small, even when compared to high-quality PVD film with a similar composition. These findings suggest a wide field of application for this novel preparation process for wear-resistive surfaces.

Tribological Performance of PVD Film Systems Against Plastic Counterparts for Adhesion-Reducing Application in Injection Molds

The deposition of physical vapor deposition (PVD) hard films is a promising approach to enhance the tribological properties of injection molds in plastic processing. However, the adhesion is influenced by the pairing of PVD film and processed plastic. For this reason, the friction behavior of different PVD films against polyamide, polypropylene, and polystyrene was investigated in tribometer tests by correlating the relation between the roughness and the adhesion. It was shown that the dispersive and polar surface energy have an impact on the work of adhesion. In particular, Cr-based nitrides with a low polar component exhibit the lowest values ranging from 65.5 to 69.4 mN/m when paired with the polar polyamide. An increased roughness leads to a lower friction due to a reduction of the adhesive friction component, whereas a higher work of adhesion results in higher friction for polyamide and polypropylene. Within this context, most Cr-based nitrides exhibited coefficients of friction below 0.4. In contrast, polystyrene leads to a friction-reducing material transfer. Therefore, a customized deposition of the injection molds with an appropriated PVD film system should be carried out according to the processed plastic.

Fatigue Behaviour of Notched PVD-Coated Titanium Components

In this paper the fatigue behaviour of Ti-6Al-4V alloy coated with a TiN arc-deposited PVD film was studied. Rotating bending tests (R = -1) were carried out on standard “hourglass” specimens to evaluate the fatigue limit at 200000 load cycles. Conventional and notched (120° Vnotch transversal to the rotating axis at the minimum cross section area) specimens were tested, both coated and uncoated, to investigate the effect of the coating on the fatigue limit of the titanium alloy, with and without the surface notch. Fracture surfaces were observed by SEM. The coating did not improve the titanium alloy fatigue life.