Enhanced corrosion resistance of die steel by depositing TiAlSiN coating through HiPIMS

Abstract

TiAlSiN coating deposited on carbon steel can improve the anti-wear and anti-corrosion performances. In present study, the film is fabricated on H13 die steel using the technique of high power impulse magnetron sputtering. Mutual diffusion of elements between the coating and substrate can be obviously found, which promotes the metallurgical bonding. The adhesion ability can be significantly enlarged by increasing the bias voltage, deposition temperature and time, with a growing amplitude of 62.4%. When considering the corrosion resistance after coating TiAlSiN, the corrosion current diminishes and the potential shifts to the positive side in the potentiodynamic polarization tests. The corrosion inhibition efficiency can reach 96.8% when setting the bias voltage, deposition temperature and film thickness as −100 V, 550 °C and 3 µm, respectively. The significant corrosive protection is achieved by the formation of the passivation Al₂O₃ layer when dipping the as-deposited film in electrolyte.