A columnar TiN film under contact loading fails by shear fracture along inter-columnar boundaries. To deconvolute inter-columnar fracture strength from load-displacement curves, nanoindentation experiments were carried out on columnar similar to 1.4 mu m thick TiN films deposited on steels of various hardness, using a Berkovich indenter. A model, which is developed based on the shear-fracture driven deformation of the coating, is applied to the load-displacement curves to obtain inter-columnar fracture strength. The correlation between the fracture strength, biaxial residual stress and substrate yield stressis outlined. The result suggests that the presence of a high compressive residual stress substantially improves the shear fracturestrength of a columnar TiN film.
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