Structure and mechanical properties of thick Cr/Cr_2N/CrN multilayer coating deposited by multi-arc ion plating

A Cr/Cr2N/CrN multilayer coating with a thickness of 24.4 μm was deposited by multi-arc ion plating. The coating was systematically characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy(FESEM), X-ray photoelectron spectrometry(XPS), energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS), X-ray diffraction(XRD) and transmission electron microscopy(TEM). Hardness and adhesion were tested by nanoindentation and scratch tester, respectively. The friction properties were investigated by a reciprocating UMT-3MT ball-on-disk tribometer in air and seawater. The results showed that the multilayer coating consisted of three different layers, with Cr,Cr2N and CrN phases, respectively. Compared with CrN single layer coating, the adhesion of the multilayer coating was improved significantly, the hardness of the multilayer coating was(21±2) GPa. The corrosion resistance of the multilayer coating was also improved in artificial seawater. The friction coefficient of multilayer coating was lower than that of CrN single layer coating both in air and seawater.

Microstructure and indentation toughness of Cr/CrN multilayer coatings by arc ion plating

Cr/CrN multilayer coatings with bilayer periods in the range from 1351 to 260 nm were prepared on 304 stainless steel substrates by arc ion plating to study the microstructure and properties of multilayer coatings and stimulate their application.SEM results confirm the clear periodicity of the Cr/CrN multilayer coatings and the clear interface between individual layers.XRD patterns reveal that these multilayer coatings contain Cr,CrN and Cr_2N phases.Because Cr layer is softer than its nitride layer,the hardness decreases with the shortening of the bilayer period(or increasing volume fraction of Cr layer).The Cr/CrN multilayer coating with 862 nm period possesses the highest indentation toughness due to a proper individual Cr and nitride layer thickness.However,for the Cr/CrN multilayer with the bilayer period of 1351 nm,it possesses the lowest toughness due to more nitride phase.The indentation toughness of Cr/CrN multilayer coatings is related with their bilayer period.A coating with a proper individual Cr and nitride layer thickness possesses the highest indentation toughness.

TiN/CrN multilayered hard coatings with TiCrN interlayer deposited by a filtered cathodic vacuum arc technique

TiN/CrN multilayered hard coatings with TiCrN interlayer were deposited onhigh speed steel substrates by using a filtered cathodic vacuum arc technique. The structure andcomposition of the coatings were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Augerelectron spectroscopy (AES). A high adhesion of up to 80 N was demonstrated by scratching tests forthe multi-layered coatings. Nanoindentation tests were performed to determine the hardness andelastic modulus of the coatings as a function of the multiplayer modulation period. It was observedthat the hardness of the multilayered coatings is higher than those of either TiN or CrN singlecoatings, and it increases with decreasing modulation periods, which is consistent with predictionsfrom the Hall-Petch type strengthening mechanism, though at small modulation periods, deviation fromthe Hall-Petch relation has been observed for the multilayered coatings. The life-span of drillscoated with TiN/CrN multilayered is triple as long as that coated with TiN layer.