METODOLOGÍA DE PREPARACIÓN SUPERFICIAL PARA LA NANOINDENTACIÓN DE RECUBRIMIENTOS DE ALTA RUGOSIDAD

This work presents a methodology for the preparation of the surface prior to nanoindentation tests that increases the precision of the results in rough surfaces. In applications where the maximum indentation size is dimensionally comparable with the specimen roughness, the accuracy and precision may be too poor. The developed methodology is focused on these cases. The methodology has been developed for thin coatings that are harder than the substrate. It has been validated and applied on TiO2 coatings deposited by PVD on Inconel (R) 718 and subjected to temperatures between 600 degrees C and 1100 degrees C, treatment that increases the specimen roughness. Modifying different parameters, it has been possible to analyse the improvement of the results due to the method and its uncertainty sources and to compare it with the usual nanoindentation technique.