Nanoindentation analysis of TiN, TiAlN, and TiAlSiN coatings prepared by cathode ion plating

Abstract

The TiN, TiAlN and TiAlSiN coatings were deposited on H13 hot-worked mold steel by cathodic arc ion plating (CAIP). The morphologies, phase compositions, and nanoindentation parameters, such as creep hardness, elastic modulus and plastic deformation energy of the coatings were analyzed with field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and nanoindentation testing, respectively, and the test results were compared with equation describing the indentation model. The results show that the TiN, TiAlN and TiAlSiN coating surfaces were dense and composed of TiN, TiN + TiAlN, TiN + Si 3 N 4 + TiAlN phases, respectively. There was no spalling or cracking on the indentation surface. The creep hardness of the TiN, TiAlN and TiAlSiN coatings was 7.33, 13.5, and 15.2 GPa, respectively; the corresponding hardness measured by nanoindentation was 7.09, 15.6, and 21.7 GPa, respectively; and the corresponding elastic modulus was 201.93, 172.79, and 162.77 GPa, respectively. The contact depth and elastic modulus calculated by the indentation model were close to those of the test results, but the remaining indentation parameters showed discrepancies. The sequence of plastic deformation energy was TiN > TiAlN>TiAlSiN.

Surface‐interface microstructures and binding strength of cathodic arc ion plated TiCN coatings on YT14 cutting tools

“…The TiCN coating with a finer microstructure on YT14 cutting tool was dense, homogeneous, and featureless. This was a contribution to the microhardness, which was probably due to the addition of C element . The coating exhibited a more gradual transformation in the compositions between the coating and the substrate occurred over a length scale (~1 µm).…”

Effect of surface polishing on the tribological performance of hard coatings under lubricated three-body abrasive conditions

“…In addition, keeping the maximum penetration depth (h) to less than 10% of the coating thickness (t) reduces the effect of the substrate [46,51]. Thus, nanoindentation experiments were conducted with a standard trapezoidal loading curve [52][53][54] with maximum normal loads of 3×10 5 μN, 5×10 5 μN, 8×10 5 μN, 10×10 5 μN, and 11×10 5 μN. Figure 8(a) shows the load-displacement curves obtained for unpolished CrC coating at different loads.…”

A novel criterion to identify coatings’ adhesion

“…Using a nano-indentation, the loading and unloading curves via the displacement under increasing load can be measured, which is normally run two different paths and form a closed area, refer to the schematic graph in Figure 1(c). It is believed that the data of the displacement beyond 1/10 of a coating's thickness include the information both of a coating and its substrate [13,14]. The closed area is the integration difference of the loading and unloading curves via the displacement, which means the absorbed energy due to the unrecovered deformation of a coating/substrate system after loading and unloading works, i.e.…”