• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
• /
• v.12 no.S1
• /
• pp.21-27
• /
• 2003

Micro-arc discharge oxidation (MDO) is a cost-effective plasma electrolytic process which can be used to improve the wear and corrosion resistance of Al-alloy parts by forming a alumina coating on the component surface. However, the MDO coated Al-alloy components often exhibit relatively high friction coefficients and low wear resistance fitted with many counterface materials, additionally, the pitting corrosion for the MDO coated AI-alloy components, especially for a thinner alumina coating, often occurs in atmosphere circumstance due to the porous alumina coats. Therefore, a duplex treatment, combining a MDO coated ahumina thin layer with a TiN coating, prepared by magnetron sputtering (MS), has been investigated. The Vicker's microhardness, pin-on-disc, electrochemical measurement, salt spray, XRD and SEM tests were used to characterize and analyze the treated samples. The work demonstrates that the MDO/MS coated samples have a combination of a very low friction coefficient and good wear resistance as well as corrosion since the micro-holes on alumina coating are partly or fully covered by TiN material.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.27-33
• /
• 2014

This paper presents a brief summary on a relatively new plasma aided electrolytic surface treatment process for light metals. A brief discussion regarding the advantages, principle, process parameters and applications of this process is discussed. The process owes its origin to Sluginov who discovered an arc discharge phenomenon in electrolysis in 1880. A similar process was studied and developed by Markov and coworkers in 1970s who successfully deposited an oxide film on aluminium. Several investigation thereafter lead to the establishment of suitable process parameters for deposition of a crystalline oxide film of more than $100{\mu}m$ thickness on the surface of light metals such as aluminium, titanium and magnesium. This process nowadays goes by several names such as plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO), micro-arc oxidation (MOA), anodic spark deposition (ASD) etc. Several startups and surface treatment companies have taken up the process and deployed it successfully in a range of products, from military grade rifles to common off road sprockets. However, there are certain limitations to this technology such as the formation of an outer porous oxide layer, especially in case of magnesium which displays a Piling Bedworth ratio of less than one and thus an inherent non protective oxide. This can be treated further but adds to the cost of the process. Overall, it can be said the PEO process offers a better solution than the conventional coating processes. It offers advantages considering the fact that he electrolyte used in PEO process is environmental friendly and the temperature control is not as strict as in case of other surface treatment processes.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
• /
• v.49 no.3
• /
• pp.307-315
• /
• 2016

The properties of AlTiN films by a cathodic arc deposition process have been studied. Oblique angle deposition has been applied to deposit AlTiN films. AlTiN films have been deposited on stainless steel (SUS304) and cemented carbide (WC) at a substrate temperature of $500^{\circ}C$. AlTiN films were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, glow-discharge light spectroscopy, micro-vickers hardness, and nanoindenter. When applying a current of 50 A to the cathodic arc source, it showed that the density of macroparticle of AlTiN films was 5 lower than other deposition conditions. With the increase of the bias voltage applied to the substrate up to -150 V, the density of macroparticle was decreased. The change of the $N_2$ flow rate during coating process made no influence on the film properties. For the multi-layered films, the film prepared at oblique angle of $60^{\circ}$ showed the highest hardness of 28 GPa and $H^3/E^2$ index of 0.18. AlTiN films have been shown a good oxidation resistance up to $800^{\circ}C$.