Tribological and electrochemical performances of Cr/CrN and Cr/CrN/CrAlN multilayer coatings deposited by RF magnetron sputtering

• At the beginning of tests, all couples show an oxidative wear mechanism.
• Samples/alumina balls contact leads to abrasive-adhesive wear.
• Adhesive wear is the main phenomenon in samples/WC balls.
• Multilayers lead to better corrosion resistance than single layer coatings.

CrN/CrAlN and Cr/CrN/CrAlN multilayers were grown with dual RF magnetron sputtering. The application of these multilayers will be wood machining of green wood. That is why ball-on-disc and electrochemical tests in NaCl aqueous solution were realized to elucidate the tribological and corrosion behavior of these coatings as they will be exposed to wear and corrosion during wood machining process. The samples/alumina and samples/WC coupling showed different wear mechanisms. The 300 nm thick Cr/CrN/CrAlN multilayer demonstrated the best tribological behavior and corrosion resistance. The influence of growth defects on corrosion resistance has been shown.