On Improving Wear Resistance of Cr-Al-N Coatings Using Dynamic Glancing Angle DC Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract

The development of alternatives for wear protection in surface engineering can be responsible for a significant decrease in energy waste as a large amount of the energy produced in the world is lost due to tribological contact. Dynamic Glancing Angle Deposition has been recently evaluated as a route to produce coatings with improved wear performance. In this technique, the substrate oscillates along with a determined range in front of the sputtering target during the growth of the film. In this study, five oscillatory ranges (0, ±5°, ±10°, ±15°, ±20°) were probed to manufacture nanostructured Cr-Al-N coatings using direct current magnetron sputtering, and their impact was investigated on the grain morphology, phase formation, chemical composition, and performance of the coatings. FEG-SEM revealed the formation of multilayer-like architecture across the grains of the coatings. The deposition rate and hardness improved, and a more than 2-fold decrease in the material loss was observed in a comparison between the stationary-deposited conventional coating and the sample produced under ±10° oscillatory range. This indicated the potential use of this technique in future surface engineering applications.

Tailoring the Hybrid Magnetron Sputtering Process (HiPIMS and dcMS) to Manufacture Ceramic Multilayers: Powering Conditions, Target Materials, and Base Layers

“…All diffracted peaks corresponded to the face centered cubic (fcc) CrN phase. The absence of peaks related to Cr 2 N or AlN phases showed that aluminum occurs as a substitutional element without phase segregation or AlN precipitation [ 17 , 25 , 26 ]. In addition, all the peaks presented a slight shift to the left (i.e., toward smaller 2θ angles).…”

Role of Nitrogen and Yttrium Contents in Manufacturing (Cr, Y)Nx Film Nanostructures

“…The properties of coatings can be modified by changing HiPIMS process parameters such as bias polarization, working pressure, gas ratio, substrate displacement, and impinging angle of ion bombardment [ 9 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. The microstructure, mechanical and tribological behavior are strongly related to N 2 /Ar flow ratios during deposition.…”

“…This work is based on the influence of nitrogen and yttrium additions on the microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties in the microstructural, mechanical, and tribological analysis of multilayer (Cr, Y)Nx coatings deposited by HiPIMS on AISI 304L stainless-steel substrates, using Dynamic Glancing Angle Deposition (DGLAD); DGLAD is a manufacturing route to develop nanostructured coatings with increased wear resistance and high hardness and toughness values due to systematic nanostructured layer formation [ 9 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ].…”