Effects of Surface Pretreatment of Ti-6AI-4V on the Adhesion and Wear Lifetimes of Sputtered MoS2Coatings

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Abstract
Improving the adhesion and wear endurance lifetimes of the solid lubricant molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) on titanium (Ti) alloys was studied in this experimental investigation. Ti-6Al-4V alloy specimens were implanted with gas ions or coated with ceramic layers prior to coating with sputtered MoS2 to investigate the adhesion and wear lifetimes of the MoS2 coatings. The greatest improvement in scratch adhesion (2.4 times Ti-6Al-4V coated directly with MoS2) was observed for an MoS2/diamond-like carbon/Si multilayer coating. Sliding wear tests revealed the greatest lifetime improvement (3.2 ×) was for an MoS2/TiC dual-layer coating. Increased MoS2 adhesion was observed for pretreated surfaces with a Vickers microhardness greater than 800 kgf/mm2. Increased adhesion of MoS2 for bond layers with lower elastic moduli (estimated) is suggested. Therefore the ratio hardness/elastic modulus may be a potential figure of merit for surface pretreatment selection.