Effect of Ti-Based Thin Solid Films on Tribological and Mechanical Properties of AL7075-T7351

Abstract

Aluminum alloy itself does not provide sufficient wear resistance for structural parts. Therefore, there is need to protect against the wear issue in practical applications. The objective of this study is to investigate different parameters wear characteristics of direct current (dc) magnetron sputtered titanium films on Al7075-T7351 using a wear test. Each parameter has three levels which include the direct current (DC) power, deposition time, and substrate surface roughness. The thickness of the coatings was measured using a focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) from approximately 0.5 mu m to 4.4 mu m. The titanium thin film coatings were then evaluated using a PD102 wear tester under conditions of 60 rpm, 2N, 30 minutes. As a result, the coefficient of friction of the coating was reduced, and the wear resistance of the coating was improved as the applied power and deposition time increased. The hardness of titanium-coated specimens is increased significantly up to 272 HV, while the hardness of uncoated specimens was 160 HV.