The macrostressed state of (Ti,Al)N–Cu and (Ti,Al)N–Ni ceramic–metal coatings obtained by the arc-PVD method has been studied using X-ray diffraction and by measuring the radius of curvature of a coating–base composite sample (Stoney’s method). It is established that the presence of a tough metal phase favors significant reduction in the level of macrostresses in these structures as compared to those in (Ti,Al)N ceramic coatings, the absolute values of which decrease from 4.7–4.3 to 0.17–0.32 GPa. At the same time, both Ti–Al–Cu–N and Ti–Al–Ni–N coatings retain high hardness of 43 and 51 GPa, respectively, versus 29 GPa for Ti–Al–N coatings. The obtained results give grounds to suppose that the high hardness of the ceramic–metal coatings studied is determined by their nanocrystalline structure rather than by compressive macrostresses.

The results of the simulation of plasma fluxes onto the surface of rotating substrates during the combustion of a vacuum arc of the Cr–Ti–Mo cathode system are presented. The structure and composition of the arc-PVD Ti_0.15Cr_0.74Mo_0.11N_0.84 coatings are experimentally studied. The numerical simulation results of the coating structures based on experimental data were analyzed. The possibility of the simulation of the structure of multilayer, multicomponent coatings and the concentration distribution of chemical elements and its components is shown by calculating the plasma fluxes using the Monte Carlo method.