Effect of Temperature on Hard TiB2-Al2O3-Ti Coatings Deposited Using Electron Beam Physical Vapor Deposition

High-speed steel surfaces were coated with TiB2-Al2O3-(Ti 20%) thin film coatings of 4.9796 and 3.9036 µm thickness, deposited using electron beam physical vapor deposition at 400 and 500 °C temperatures, respectively. Surface profilometer and 3D profilometer with AFM were used to analyze the coatings’ thickness and surface roughness of the samples. Nanotribometer tests were used to evaluate thin film coatings' wear and friction behavior at varied loads of 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 N. Nanoindentation, FESEM, EDS, Raman Spectroscopy, and XRD were used to characterize the thin films. According to the findings, the nano-mechanical and nano-tribological behavior of the coating alters at different temperatures. The coating deposition which was done at low temperature of 400 °C performed better than the coating deposited high temperature of 500 °C.