Effects of bias voltage on wear resistance of TiN coatings

TiN coatings were deposited on 1Cr11Ni2W2MoV stainless steel by ion plating technology. The effects of different negative bias voltages on the hardness and wear resistance of TiN coatings was systematically studied. The hardness, wear resistance, and corrosion resistance of the coatings were evaluated through microhardness tests, friction and wear tests, and electrochemical experiments, respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to analyze the phase composition of the coatings. The results show that the application of negative bias voltage effectively reduced the number and size of particles on the coating surface and increased the coating thickness and adhesion strength within the same deposition time. However, excessive negative bias voltage led to a decrease in hardness and adhesion strength. At a bias voltage of -400V, the TiN coating achieved a maximum hardness of 1429.1 HV0.05, a friction coefficient of 0.47, and a wear rate of 4.65 ×10⁻⁹ mm³/(N⋅m), which was significantly lower than the wear rate of 1Cr11Ni2W2MoV stainless steel at 64.84 × 10⁻⁹ mm³/(N⋅m). Both the coating and the substrate exhibited abrasive wear failure.