Influence of substrate microstructure and surface finish on cracking and delamination response of TiN-coated cemented carbides

The cracking and delamination of TiN-coated hardmetals (WC-Co cemented carbides) when subjected to Brale indentation were studied. Experimental variables were substrate microstructure related to low (6 wt% Co) and medium (13 wt% Co) binder content, and surface finishes associated with grinding and polishing stages before film deposition. Brale indentation tests were conducted on both coated and uncoated hardmetals. Emphasis has been placed on assessing substrate microstructure and subsurface finish effects on load levels at which cracking and delamination phenomena emerge, the type of cracking pattern developed, and how fracture mechanisms evolve with increasing load. It is found that polished and coated hardmetals are more brittle (radial cracking) and the adhesion strength (coating delamination) diminishes with decreasing binder content. Such a response is discussed on the basis of the influence of intrinsic hardness/brittleness of the hardmetal substrate on both cracking at the subsurface level and effective stress state, particularly regarding changes in shear stress component. Grinding promotes delamination compared to the polished condition, but strongly inhibits radial cracking. This is a result of the interaction between elastic-plastic deformation imposed during indentation and several grinding-induced effects: remnant compressive stress field, pronounced surface texture and microcracking within a thin altered subsurface layer. As a consequence, coating spallation prevails over radial cracking as the main mechanism for energy dissipation in ground and coated hardmetals.