In order to improve adhesion strength between TiN coatings and WC-Co substrate, two
kinds of interlayer of Co and Ti were pre-deposited before TiN coating process. Thickness and postannealing
effects of each interlayer on the adhesion property were investigated through scratch test
in this work. Introduction of thin Ti interlayer largely enhanced the adhesion strength between TiN
coatings and WC-Co substrate in scratch test. The critical load, Lc2 increased from 64 N without Ti
interlayer up to 130N with Ti one of ~ 0.15 thickness. However, post-annealing of TiN/Ti/WCCo
system at high temperature of 600 reduced the critical load again. The Ti interlayer caused a
deficit of Co content in WC-Co substrate during annealing through diffusion of Co element into Ti
interlayer. The reduction of critical load after post-annealing was believed due to diminution in
mechanical properties of the substrate derived from the Co deficit in WC-Co substrate. On the other
hand, introduction of thin Co interlayer of ~ 0.027 thickness also increased the critical load up to
84 N and improved failure mode, but did not reduce the critical load even after annealing, rather
increased it. And, any Co deficit of the substrate was not found after annealing for TiN/Co/WC-Co
system.
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