Abstract
The corrosion resistance of ion-plated TiN on AISI 304 stainless steel was evaluated by the ASTM standard B-117 salt spray test. The experimental results indicate that the residual stresses in the coating and the packing factor of the TiN thin film are two important parameters which control the corrosion behavior of the specimens. The residual stress in the thin film was estimated, in terms of interfacial shear stress, by a periodic cracking method. It is found that for the TiN-coated stainless steel good corrosion resistance can be obtained for specimens with the measured interfacial shear stress lower than ~ 4GPa and the packing factor higher than 0.84.