Highly wear resistant PVD coatings are well established in cutting operations. Further efforts to improve the cutting performance need to be focused on all relevant wear mechanisms. Thus, the objectives are an enhancement of the abrasive wear resistance, toughness, oxidation resistance, and reduction of friction. The aim of this work was to investigate properties and cutting performance of new multifunctional multicomponent PVD coatings based on Ti1.xAlxN applied to cutting tools. An industrial cathodic arc-evaporation unit was used to deposit coatings from powder metallurgically produced multi-component targets. Coating structure and chemical composition were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Coating hardness and cutting performance were evaluated by Vickers microindentation and cutting tests. The results show a remarkable influence of additional elements on the properties of Ti1.xAlxN based coatings. Alloying with elements like V, Ta, and B resulted in a significantly increased lifetime in various cutting applications. . 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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