Titanium nitride (TiN) deposition on the surface of Al-5083 using DC sputtering method to improve its hardness and wear resistance

Aluminum 5083 is widely used for shipbuilding because of its lightweight and strong resistance to corrosion. However, because of its low hardness and wear resistance, it causes limitations in its application. Because of this, there is a need to improve the mechanical properties of the material surface. To improve the surface mechanical properties of Al-5083, the thin film of titanium nitride (TiN) was deposited with the DC sputtering technique on the surface of Al-5083. The method of deposition has been carried out for varying periods of time such as 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 minutes with 70Ar:30 N2 of gas ratio. From this time variation, it is expected that the optimal conditions of time can be obtained that produce an optimum hardness. Based on optimum conditions, the deposition process was continued for various of Ar:N2 gas ratio such as 60Ar:40N2, 70Ar:30N2, 80Ar:20N2, and 90Ar:10N2. The effect of thin layer deposition on the material on its hardness was characterized using a Vickers microhardness tester, wear using the Ogoshi method, surface morphology and chemical composition using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) - Electron-Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). Based on research done, it was found that the optimum condition of time is reached at 120 minutes and 70Ar: 30N2 of the gas mixture with the highest hardness in order of 94.7 VHN from the initial hardness of 52.14 VHN. At optimum conditions, the wear resistance decreased to 8.25 × 10-8 mm2/kg from the initial 54.8 x 10-8 mm2/kg or increase wear resistance by factor 6.6. At this condition, the maximum thickness layer is about 26.79 µm, and the detected of Ti and N with Ti = 83.2 % wt and N = 0.6 % wt.