Surface modification of tool steel by cathodic cage TiN deposition

ABSTRACT

The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of titanium nitride coating for various treatment times (0.5–4 h) by cathodic cage plasma deposition (CCPD) on surface properties of AISI D6 tool steel. The obtained results depict micrometric-sized TiN film deposition under all processing condition with improved surface hardness and corrosion resistance. Raman and EDS analysis are used to calculate N/Ti ratios for stoichiometric calculations of samples. This study depicts that the surface properties of tool steel can be effectively improved by TiN film deposition using CCPD, with low processing time, low processing temperature and better uniformity, as compared to conventional techniques. Additionally, the problems associated with the conventional TiN films such as pores and voids are eliminated. This technique is compatible with industrial-scale applications, and thus results from this study are expected to be beneficial for the surface engineering industry.

KEYWORDS:

• TiN-deposition
• cathodic cage plasma
• AISI D6 steel
• microhardness
• corrosion resistance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.