Titanium-containing coatings formed on stainless steel by electrospark deposition in air and argon

Abstract

Titanium-containing coatings were obtained on stainless steel by electrospark deposition at elevated, normal, and reduced pressures in an atmosphere of air or argon. Monolayers with a thickness of 4.2±1.5 to 18.8±9.9 µm were deposited at an operating current of 0.5–2.0 A. The metal oxide coatings formed in air were characterized by an average splat size of 79.5±48.8 to 210.0±128.3 μm, and a microhardness of 5.0±0.26 to 8.25±0.33 GPa. The use of argon as the atmosphere enabled the reduction in the oxides content and increase in the α-Ti content, the stabilization of the average splat size in the range of 72.6–163.8 μm, and the reduction of the microhardness to 4.37–6.38 GPa.

Keywords: electrospark deposition, stainless steel, titanium-containing coatings.