MECHANICAL AND TRIBOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF TUNGSTEN-TITANIUM THIN FILM COATINGS DEPOSITED BY DC MAGNETRON SPUTTERING

Our work consists in depositing a titanium-tungsten (TiW) thin film on AISI 420 stainless steel (SS) of different thicknesses by DC magnetron sputtering technique. Microstructural (XRD, SEM, Raman), mechanical (nanoindentation) and tribological tests were performed on the coated stainlesssteel substrates. Discussion on the obtained results shows that TiW layer improves the tribological and mechanical properties of the samples compared to those without TiW layer. A correlation between layer thickness, hardness, coefficient of friction and wear resistance has been done along the discussion.