Improvement of the tribological behaviour of PVD nanostratified TiN/CrN coatings — An explanation

A hard TiN/CrN multilayered coating, consisting of alternating nanometer scale TiN and CrN layers (bilayer period of 40 nm), was deposited by arc evaporation process on M2 tool steel. Monolayered TiN and CrN are also deposited in the same conditions, and used as references. In order to get a better understanding of the tribological behaviour of coated parts, two types of experiments were performed. The dry-sliding wear resistance was evaluated with a ball-on-disk tribometer, while surface fatigue resistance was determined by a cyclic multi-impact test. The architecture of layers is measured by XRD and observed by TEM. The residual stress field was characterised using XRD and the sin2ψ method at a synchrotron radiation facility.All coatings present a columnar microstructure. TiN demonstrated better wear resistance than CrN and this characteristic is still increased two times by using the nanostratified coating. In the same way, the results of surface oligo-cyclic fatigue test confirm the high performance of the nanostructured coating with respect to the monolayered ones. The differences in mechanical properties of coatings evaluated through nanoindentation measurements do not lead to a direct correlation with the tribological results, and therefore cannot explain such differences. Moreover, a microscopic analysis of the samples after both tribological tests reveals two opposite cracking mechanisms. Monolayered TiN and CrN are subjected to a transversal crack propagation until the peeling of the coating, whereas the multilayered coating only undergoes cohesive cracks deviated in the TiN/CrN interface zones. Both opposite behaviours are the consequence of the distribution of stresses along the thickness of the film.