Mechanical properties and bio‑tribological performance of PVD (Ta/ ZrN)n multilayer coatings on UHMWPE in bovine serum lubrication


Creative Commons License

Ramoul C. E., Nouveau C., Beliardouh N. E., Kaleli E. H., Ali Ourdjini A., Ghelloudj O., ...More

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY, vol.1, no.22, pp.1-12, 2022 (SCI-Expanded)

Abstract

This work investigated the tribological performance of (Ta/ZrN)n multilayer coatings against ultrahigh molecular weight

polyethylene (UHMWPE) material. Three multilayer coatings with different designs were deposited on Ti-6Al-4 V substrate

and subjected to wear testing under lubrication of diluted bovine calf serum. The results revealed an improvement in wear

resistance of (Ta/ZrN)n multilayer coatings and low coefficient of friction under an applied load of 1 N. High hardness,

excellent biotribological properties, and low residual stresses were obtained in the multilayer coating with the thinnest ZrN

as the topmost layer of 100 nm. This work demonstrates that Ta/ZrN multilayers can be promising coatings for prosthesis

applications.