Nanostructured Arc-PVD coatings based on titanium and chromium nitrides

Multicomponent nanostructured coatings based on Ti-Cr-Al-N nitrides with a crystallite size of 10–100 nm are formed by arc physical vacuum deposition. The dependences of the structure and phase composition of the coatings on the deposition parameters, namely, the bias potential applied to a substrate and the arc current at a chromium cathode, are found. The appearance of chromium nitride phases in the coatings is accompanied by a decrease in the crystallite size. The hardness (up to 32 GPa) and the elastic modulus (up to 700 GPa) of the coatings are determined by both the crystallite size and the microstrains (up to 0.74%) induced by chemical heterogeneity in the coatings. The adhesion strength of the coatings is estimated at 90 N. Cutting hard-alloy tools with the grown coatings are characterized by a high resistance coefficient during continuous (up to 5.1) and discontinuous (up to 5.7) cutting of 38KhNMA steel.