Effect of copper addition on the temperature dependent reciprocating wear behaviour of CrN coatings

CrN–Cu nanocomposite coating was produced by hybrid method using both cathodic arc and magnetron sputtering PVD technique. Reciprocating wear behaviour of the coatings was investigated at room temperature, 50, 100 and 150 °C. The tribological behavior of copper doped CrN is compared with undoped coatings. The differences observed in the wear behavior are related to the character of the wear debris formed at the tribocontact regions which are characterized with micro-Raman spectroscopy. The results of this study showed that it is possible to design CrN coatings showing temperature independent wear behavior by introducing oxygen into their structure.