Wear properties of TiN-coated and subsequently ion-implanted SKD 11

TiN-coated SKD 11 was implanted with nitrogen ion and its wear property was examined systematically to investigate whether the wear properties of the hard-coated layer can be improved by the ion implantation. The amount of nitrogen ions implanted on the coated layer was 2 x 10(15), 10(16), 10(17), and 10(18) ions cm(-2), respectively. X-ray diffraction revealed that the intensity of the peaks belonging to TiN tended to increase as the ion dose increased, which implied that the ion implantation promoted the formation of TiN in the coated layer. However, the hardness of the specimens increased and then decreased again as the ion dose increased, resulting in an obvious drop of hardness for the ion dose of 2 x 10(18) ions cm(-2). Adhesion of the coated layer was apparently improved by the implantation. The overall wear properties were better when the amount of ion dose was 2 x 10(15) ions cm(-2). (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.