Features of the Process of Surface Preparation of Products Using Glow Discharge Plasma During the Deposition of Modifying Coatings

The deposition characteristics of coatings on a titanium alloy substrate were compared using two alternative surface preparation methods: Hollow Cathode Spaces (HCSs) and Ion Bombardment (IB). After deposition of ZrN coatings, the wear resistance of the samples increased by 50–70% compared to uncoated samples, while the HCS method provided 30% higher wear resistance than the IB method. Coated samples deposited using the HCS and IB methods demonstrated very similar friction coefficient values, with a slight (10–15%) decrease in this parameter for the HCS samples. Varying the bias voltage on the substrate (−900, −1200, and −1500 V) when using the HCS method significantly affected wear resistance. The calculated optimal value of the bias voltage when using the HCS method is −1126 V. During the pre-treatment of the substrate using the HCS and IB methods, a transition layer can be formed in the area of the coating–substrate interface; the thickness of this layer varies within the range of 15–400 nm, and the composition is a mixture of coating (zirconium) and substrate (titanium, aluminum, and vanadium) materials.