Experimental-numerical Technique to Evaluate the Thickness of TiN Thin Film

In this study, the numerical analysis of instrumented indentation testing was combined with the experimental procedure to evaluate the mechanical properties and thickness of a titanium nitride (TiN) film deposited on titanium substrate (Ti) by plasma processing. TiN film thickness is an important parameter for the surface treatment industry. In numerical analysis, the finite elements method (FEM) was applied using Marc™ commercial software. Initially, the mechanical properties of the film and substrate were determined using a numerical-experimental methodology, combining the results of indentation testing with a Berkovich indenter and the same numerical simulation for both the film and substrate. Next, the behavior of instrumented Vickers hardness as a function of maximum indenter penetration depth (hmax) was compared with the numerical results of this hardness as a function of the ratio between penetration depth and film thickness (hmax/t). Both curves were fitted using power law equations, which calculated film thickness applying a new convergence algorithm. Finally, it also was shown that the film thickness obtained agrees with the experimental range reported in the literature.