Mechanical Characterization of Nanostructured Thin Films Used to Imporve Mechatronic Components

Abstract Taking into account the importance of mechatronic applications, researches regarding the possibility to improve the lifetime of mechatronic components were made. Nanostructured metallic thin films (Ti, Cr, Al and Ti/Al multilayer) were deposited on different types of steel substrates, because nanomaterials have exceptional properties in relation to the common materials. In this paper a part of the results obtained after mechanical and topographic characterization of the thin films are presented. Cr is the deposited thin film showing the highest hardness on the surface of steel substrate type OSC. After the scratch tests realized, Ti layer presented the best adhesion on all types of steel substrates used in experiments. The results of these researches could be extremely useful for engineers in the mechatronic field.