Determination of film thickness through simulation of vickers hardness testing

In recent decades, changes in the surface properties of materials have been used to improve their tribology characteristics. However, this improvement depends on the process, treatment time and, essentially, the thickness of this surface film layer. Physical vapor deposition (PVD) has been used to i...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Libório, Maxwell Santana, Dias, Avelino Manuel da Silva, Souza, Roberto Martins
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2017
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)
Repositorio:Repositório Institucional da UFRN
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.ufrn.br:123456789/45443
Acceso en línea:https://repositorio.ufrn.br/handle/123456789/45443
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1980-5373-mr-2015-0783
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:thin films
finite element
vickers hardness
thickness measurement
Descripción
Sumario:In recent decades, changes in the surface properties of materials have been used to improve their tribology characteristics. However, this improvement depends on the process, treatment time and, essentially, the thickness of this surface film layer. Physical vapor deposition (PVD) has been used to increase the surface hardness of metallic materials. The aim of the present study was to propose a numerical-experimental method to assess the thickness (l) of films deposited by PVD. To reach this objective, Vickers experimental hardness data (HV) assays were combined with numerical simulation to study the behavior of this property as a function of maximum penetration depth of the indenter (hmax) into the film/substrate conjugate. A strategy was developed to combine the numerical results of the H x hmax/l curve with Vickers experimental hardness data (HV). This methodology was applied to a TiN-coated M2 tool steel conjugate. The mechanical properties of the studied materials were also determined. The thickness results calculated for this conjugate were compatible with their experimental data.