Mechanical and Chemical Characterisation of TiN and AlTiSiN Coatings on a LPBF Processed IN718 Substrate

Wear-resistant coatings development is progressively increasing steeply due to their advantages when applied to mechanical components subjected to abrasive and destructive environments. Titanium nitride (TiN) coating is typically used to enlarge tools and components' service life and improve their surface quality. On the other hand, AlTiSiN coating intends to be applied to more aggressive environments such as spatial satellites components exposed to solar radiation, extremely high temperatures, and random particles impact. In this work, specimens of Inconel 718 (IN718) were fabricated via laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), and physical vapour deposition (PVD)-deposited with TiN and AlTiSiN as coatings to mechanically and chemically characterise their surface. In this respect, microhardness testing and chemical analysis via glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES) were performed. Later, roughness and wear behaviour analyses were carried out to evaluate the mechanical performance of both coatings and their surface and morphological features. The experimental observations allowed the analysis of both studied coatings by comparing them with the substrate processed via LPBF.