Erosion behavior and failure mechanism of Ti/TiAlN multilayer coatings eroded by silica sand and glass beads

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2021.01.001

Abstract

Abstract:

Severe erosion by hard particles is a crucial problem to engine blades when aircraft take off and land in harsh environments, especially for the developed lightweight titanium alloy components. Here, we deposited the Ti/TiAlN multilayer coatings with various cycles on Ti-6Al-4V substrates by a home-made hybrid multisource cathodic arc system. The effects of the silica sand and glass beads on erosion behavior of the coatings were focused. Results showed that the Ti/TiAlN multilayer coatings eroded by the silica sand exhibited the predominant “layer by layer” failure mechanism. In particular, increasing the number of cycles led to the dramatic increase in erosion rate for Ti/TiAlN multilayer coatings, due to the deterioration of their mechanical properties. Different from the silica sand case, however, the erosion rate of the coatings treated by glass beads indicated faint dependence upon the number of cycles, where the coating failure was dominated by the “piece by piece” failure mechanism. Noted that the Ti layers along with the formed interfaces enhanced the erosion resistance of the coatings, although the failure mechanisms were differently eroded by silica sand and glass beads. Meanwhile, the Ti layers and interfaces hindered the propagation of radial cracks and restrained the lateral cracks within one single TiAlN layer.

Key words: Ti/TiAlN multilayer coating, Erosion resistance, Microstructure, Failure mechanism

Jintao Shuai, Xiao Zuo, Zhenyu Wang, Lili Sun, Rende Chen, Li Wang, Aiying Wang, Peiling Ke. Erosion behavior and failure mechanism of Ti/TiAlN multilayer coatings eroded by silica sand and glass beads[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2021, 80: 179-190.

Figures/Tables 14

Fig. 1. Structural diagram of Ti/TiAlN multilayer coatings with different cycles.

Table 1 Process parameters of the Ti/TiAlN multilayer coatings.

	Ti/TiAlN-3	Ti/TiAlN-6	Ti/TiAlN-12	Ti/TiAlN-24	Ti/TiAlN-72
Temperature (°C)	300
Targets current (A)	Ti layers- Ti: 70, TiAlN: 0
Targets current (A)	TiAlN layers- Ti: 0, TiAlN: 70
Bias voltage (V)	Ti and TiAlN layers: -80
Pressure (Pa)	Ti layer- 2.7 (Ar), TiAlN layer- 6.7 (N₂)
Deposition time for each layer (min)	Ti: 10	Ti: 5	Ti: 2.5	Ti: 1.25	Ti: 0.4
Deposition time for each layer (min)	TiAlN: 76	TiAlN: 38	TiAlN: 19	TiAlN: 9.5	TiAlN: 3.1

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of the erosion test rig.

Fig. 3. (a, d) Morphology, (b, e) chemical composition and (c, f) size distribution of the silica sand and the glass beads, respectively.

Fig. 4. XRD patterns of the Ti/TiAlN multilayer coatings.

Table 2 Chemical composition of the Ti/TiAlN multilayer coatings. (at.%).

Sample	Ti	Al	N
Ti/TiAlN-3	18.67 ± 0.17	31.29 ± 0.25	50.04 ± 0.32
Ti/TiAlN-6	17.85 ± 1.03	32.92 ± 0.74	49.23 ± 0.67
Ti/TiAlN-12	18.45 ± 0.51	32.30 ± 1.96	49.25 ± 1.47
Ti/TiAlN-24	17.33 ± 0.87	33.68 ± 2.07	48.99 ± 1.92
Ti/TiAlN-72	17.73 ± 0.91	32.63 ± 0.24	49.63 ± 0.67

Fig. 5. XPS spectra of Ti/TiAlN multilayer coatings: (a) Ti 2p (b) Al 2p (c) N 1s and XPS spectra fitting results of Ti/TiAlN-6: (d) Ti 2p (e) Al 2p (f) N 1s.

Fig. 6. (a) Hardness and elastic modulus and (b) H/E and H3/E2 ratios of the Ti-6Al-4V substrate and the Ti/TiAlN multilayer coatings.

Fig. 7. (a) Adhesion strength, (b)-(f) scratch morphology of the Ti/TiAlN multilayer coatings and (g)-(k) enlarged images of the framed area in Fig. 7(b)-(f), respectively.

Fig. 8. Erosion rate of the Ti-6Al-4V substrate and the Ti/TiAlN multilayer coatings eroded by (a) silica sand and (b) glass beads.

Fig. 9. Erosion behavior of the Ti/TiAlN-6 eroded by silica sand. SEM image of (a) surface morphology of the as-deposited coating, (b) micro spalling, (c) ring cracks, (d) propagated ring cracks, (e) layer by layer erosion and (f) erosion scares.

Fig. 10. Cross-sectional morphology of the Ti/TiAlN-6 eroded by silica sand. SEM image of (a) cross-sectional morphology of the as-deposited coating, (b) erosion at the top TiAlN layer, (c) enlarged image of the framed area in (b), (d) layer by layer erosion, (e) erosion at the second TiAlN layer and (f) plastic deformation at the substrate.

Fig. 11. Erosion behavior of the Ti/TiAlN-6 eroded by glass beads. SEM image of (a) cracks in the macroparticle, (b) ring cracks around the pit, (c) propagated ring cracks, (d) squamous cracks, (e) development of the pit and (f) erosion scares.

Fig. 12. Cross-sectional morphology of the Ti/TiAlN-6 eroded by glass beads. SEM image of (a) unpolished cross-sectional erosion scare, (b) polished cross-sectional erosion scare, (c) enlarged image of the framed area in (b), (d) deflection of the lateral crack, (e) development of the pit and (f) plastic deformation at the substrate.

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