Comparative Analysis over Tribology Characterization of TiAlN and TiAlSiN PVD Coating on Plasma Nitride Alloy 20

The nickel–iron–chromium (alloy 20) is enriching by hybrid surface treatment through plasma nitride (PN) and physical vapor deposition (PVD) process. The plasma nitriding process takes 12 h at 500 °C. Potentiodynamic testing is used to characterize the corrosion performance of the treated material, followed by morphological analysis of the exposed surface; XRD, EDX, SEM, hardness, and tensile testing are used to investigate appropriate coating properties. Plasma nitride and hybrid PVD nickel–iron–chromium alloys exhibit perlite (γ + α′) phases and martensite (γ + α) phases, respectively. The martensite microstructure ensures superior tensile strength and hardness. The pin-on-disc tribometer test proposes to analyze friction and hard-faced behavior in the dry sliding position. The inclusion of Si improves the adherent oxide film, resulting in a low wear rate in TiAlSiN alloy 20. Due to the presence of the passive film, TiAlSiN alloy 20 exposes the most passive region to attain better corrosion resistance. Graphical Abstract