Mechanical properties and tribological behavior of TiN-CrAlN and CrN-CrAlN multilayer coatings

摘要

There is an increasing number of applications for hard coatings in engineering where the properties of the single-layer coating are not sufficient. One way to solve this problem is to use a multilayer coating that combines the properties ofseveral coating materials. In this study, TiN-CrAlN and CrN-CrAlN multilayer coatings were deposited on 100Cr6 and S6-5-2 (DIN) steel substrates, by means of unbalanced magnetron sputtering. For comparison, TiN, CrN and CrAlN single-layer coatings werealso prepared. For all depositions the coating temperature was below 473 K. Indentation testing, hardness measurements and scratch tests were performed to characterize the mechanical properties. The correlation between the wear behavior in rolling contact and the mechanical properties of the multilayer coatings is reported. A ball crater preparation technique through scratch tests and wear tracks was used to observe the deformation and fracture behavior occurring as a result of the tests. The influences of structure and composition of the multilayer coatings on the mechanical and tribological behavior during rolling wear tests are discussed.