The Effect of Ag/Ni Multilayer Film on Fretting Wear and Fretting Fatigue Resistance of Titanium Alloy

To significantly improve the fretting wear (FW) and fretting fatigue (FF) resistance of titanium alloys and avoid the silver-induced embrittlement damage, the Ag/Ni multilayer films with different modulation period thickness was prepared on a Ti811 titanium alloy surface by an ion assisted magnetron sputtering deposition (IAD) technique. The structure, bonding strength, micro-hardness and ductility of the multilayer films were measured. The effects of the Ag/Ni multilayer films with different modulation periods on the FW and FF resistance of the titanium alloy substrate were studied, and compared with pure Ag film and Ni film. The results indicated that the IAD technique can prepare Ag/Ni multilayer films with high density, small grain size, high bonding strength. The micro-hardness of the Ag/Ni multilayer films increased with decreasing the modulation period thickness. The superhardness phenomenon occurred when the modulation period thickness of the multilayer films was less than 100nm The Ag/Ni multilayer films could improve the FW and FF resistance of the Ti811 alloy due to its excellent lubricating and anti-fatigue properties. The FW and FF resistances of the Ti811 alloy increased with decreasing the modulation period thickness of the Ag/Ni multilayer films.