Wüest M. 51 Wykes M. 82 Yamaguchi M. 17 Ybarra G. 129 Yubero F ...

JUNE 28 WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON
ETCHC-WeA-P.4 DEPOSITION OF Ti-B-Al-N COATINGS BY MAGNETRON SPUT-
TERING OF COMPOSITE SHS TARGETS. A. García-Luis * , M. Brizuela, P. Corengia, D. González,
I. Agote. INASMET-Tecnalia, Paseo de Mikeletegi 2, 20009 San Sebastián, Spain
The synthesis of complex multicomponent coatings by magnetron sputtering usually involves the use
of several single-material targets, multi-material targets or composite targets. There are several methods
of producing composite targets, for example, hot pressing, hot extrusion, hot isostatic pressing or
plasma spraying of the component materials of the target. However, each of these methods has some
limitations regarding purity, porosity, uniformity of the microstructure or manufacturing costs. Self-
Propagating High-temperature Synthesis (SHS) is an energy-efficient alternative method which uses
exothermic reactions to synthesize compact and pure inorganic materials, including intermetallics, ceramics
and ceramic composites.
In this work, Ti/TiB 2 (5 % Al) composite targets produced by the SHS technique has been used to deposit
PVD coatings based in Ti-B-Al-N compositions. The process optimization has included the
study of the experimental parameters (cathode power, gas flows and heating on the chamber) on the
coating properties. Mechanical properties have been evaluated by dynamic ultramicroindentation
techniques and scratch testing, while tribological tests have been carried out against ball bearing steel
by the pin-on-disk method.
Ultramicrohardness values up to 36 GPa, together with a very good elastic behaviour (elastic work 92
%) have been obtained for some selected Ti-B-Al-N coatings. The adhesion of these coatings to steel
substrates has been satisfactory, with values of critical load in the scratch test higher than 55 N. Finally,
the wear tests confirm the good tribological properties of these coatings, giving no measurable
wear of the coated disk after the pin-on-disk test.
* Corresponding author: Tel: +34 943 003700; fax: +34 943 003800, e-mail: agarcia@inasmet.es
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