Development of protective coatings for A390 alloy

A390 alloy is a hypereutectic aluminum alloy with attractive mechanical properties at high temperature, good wear resistance and appropriate thermal properties making it challenging candidate material for automotive and aerospace applications. Currently, this alloy is widely used in automotive industry engine components production. In case of engine blocks, fatigue strength and wear resistance are the main cause of failure. Currently, there is an increasing interest toward the study and the development of innovative protective coatings to enhance the wear resistance of such alloys. The goal of this paper is to develop an appropriate protective TiN coatings by filtered cathodic vacuum arc and by partially filtered cathodic vacuum arc for A390 aluminum alloy to increase its mechanical resistance. The study will be carried out characterizing the obtained samples from morphological, mechanical and wear resistance point of view.