TiN coating on magnesium alloy by arc-aided glow discharge plasma penetrating technique

Arc-aided glow discharge plasma penetrating technique is a new surface coating method. With the help of vacuum arc discharge, a cold cathode arc source continually emits ion beams of coating elements with high currency density and high ionizing ratio. As the ion bombard working on, nitrogen is let in the chamber simultaneously. Then the surface of the parts formed ceramic coatings. Under lab condition, a commercial magnesium alloy Az91 had been coated with TiN film layer with the aim of improving the corrosion resistance. This paper mainly summarizes the testing and analyzing of the coating layer. The composition and microstructure of the coating layer had been analyzed by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and glow discharge spectrum (GDS), and the surface appearance had been surveyed by scanning electronic microscope (SEM). The adhesion strength between film and matrix had been evaluated by experiments of sticking-tearing. The results indicated that the coated layer on magnesium alloy were homogeneous, dense and robustly adherent.