Tribological behavior of a TiSiCN coating tested in air and coolant

One TiSiCN coating and one TiN coating as a comparison basis were investigated in this paper. The coatings were deposited on stainless steel substrates using a Plasma Enhanced Magnetron Sputtering (PEMS) process, a variation of the physical vapour deposition (PVD) technique. The XRD pattern for the TiSiCN coating implied that the coating either consists of TiN and TiC phases or C be incorporated in TiN as a single solid solution. Both coatings exhibited good adhesion, although their thickness (17 μm–45 μm) was much larger than that of many commercial PVD coatings. The TiSiCN coating showed higher hardness than the TiN coating. The sliding tribological behavior of the coatings against alumimium and alumina counterparts was studied both in air and in a coolant (Hangsterfer's S-500) by pin-on-disc tests. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to examine the wear tracks on the discs and the wear scars on the pins. Compared to the TiN coating, the TiSiCN coating exhibited lower wear rates and lower coefficients of friction (C.O.F.) against those two kinds of counterparts when tested in air. The cutting coolant provided a lubricant effect and reduced the adhesive wear and C.O.F. between the coating and the counterpart.