Publications

Abstract : The effect of heat treatment and TiN coating on AISI O1 cold work tool steel was investigated. Microstructural and phase analysis was done using optical microscope and X-Ray diffraction. The crystalline size of heat treated and TiN coating were observed to be ∼5.4 μm and ∼0.05 μm respectively. Elemental composition was examined using Energy-dispersive spectroscopy. Mechanical and wear properties of substrate was analyzed using Hystron TI 950 Triboindentater. TiN coated substrate exhibited higher hardness (∼19.6 GPa) and elastic modulus (∼289 GPa) than the heat treated substrate. Hardness and elastic modulus post TiN coating was increased by ∼308% and ∼53.7% respectively. Lower specific wear rate was observed for TiN coated substrate (∼1.8 × 10–12 m2N−1) than heat treated substrate (∼2.7 × 10–15 m2N−1). In summary, TiN coated substrate has higher mechanical and wear resistance compared to heat treated substrate.