Investigation on the relationship between reinforcing behavior of TiN and wear resistance of AlCoCrCuNiTi high-entropy alloy coating

• The coherent interface of TiN/(Ni, Co)Ti 2 ensures higher interfacial bonding force. • In the interface zone, N-Co bond is a covalent bond with higher bonding energy. • Heterojunction with larger W ad confirms that failure site tends to occur at the interface near the coating side. TiN-reinforced high-entropy alloy (HEA) coating has been widely applied in the field of surface strengthening. The isotropy, high modulus, high hardness and excellent chemical stability of TiN combine with the ductility of HEA, so as to significantly optimize the wear resistance and service life of HEA coating. In this work, in-situ TiN-reinforced AlCoCrCuNiTi HEA coating was synthesized, and TiN phase had a coherent interface between (Ni, Co)Ti 2 phase. Besides, the relationship between reinforcing behavior of TiN and wear resistance of HEA coating was analyzed based on experimental observation and first-principle model.