The Application of Plasma Assist Chemical Vapor Deposition (PACVD) Coatings for Die Casting Dies

50957-98-I The Application of Plasma Assist Chemical Vapor Deposition (PACVD) Coatings for Die Casting Dies--Materials and Electrochemical Research (MER), 7960 South Kolb, Tucson, AZ 85706-9237; (520) 574-1980 Dr. S. Dimitrijevic, Principal Investigator Dr. J.C. Withers, Business Official DOE Grant No. DE-FG03-98ER82614 Amount: $75,000 Casting dies are not only very expensive to produce in tool steels, but also fail prematurely from thermal fatigue cracking, erosion, oxidation, heat checking and soldering (a die casting defect) when the dies are exposed to reactive molten metals when operating under cyclic mechanical and thermal loading. Coatings have the potential to protect the die from molten metals if applied in an adherent, fault-free, smooth form in a composition containing corrosion resistance to the molten metal. Coatings which are not wet or corroded by the reactive molten die casting metal can prevent soldering, erosion, oxidation, and heat checking while protecting a tool steel die. A process called Plasma Assist Chemical Vapor Deposition or (PACVD) has been shown to uniformly coat complex geometries and such coatings demonstrate a greater degree of protection than other coatings. In Phase I, experiments will be conducted to determine the boundary conditions for applying the PACVD process the coating of interest (TiN-TiCN-TiN). Then, coating performance versus deposition parameters will be established. The PACVD process will be optimized to provide a domestic source for applying low cost coatings that exceed state-of-the-art performance of the TiN-TiCN-TiN composition. Finally, economic and cost analyses will be prepared. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: Significantly increasing the useful life of die casting dies would reduce the cost of components/parts produced therefrom. Markets for such coatings are valued at over $100 million per year._