Fatigue Strength of Diamond Coating-Substrate Interface Quantified by a Dynamic Simulation of the Inclined Impact Test

Fatigue damage of the nanocrystalline diamond coating (NCD) bonding to the cemented carbide substrate develops when repetitive impact loads are applied onto the film. Thus, the highly compressive residual stresses of a NCD film are released leading to its lifting from the substrate (bulge formation). The present paper deals with the analytical description of the progressive failure of the NCD coating-substrate interface under repetitive impacts. In this context, an advanced 3D-finite element analysis model was developed for the dynamic simulation of the inclined impact test, using the LS-DYNA software. This model considers the high thermal compressive residual stresses developed in the NCD coating structure during cooling from chemical vapour deposition process temperature to ambient one. The fatigue failure of the NCD coating-substrate interface is associated with a critical shear failure stress (SFLS). The determined SFLS represents the maximum operational stress permitted in the NCD film-substrate interface in order to avoid the coating detachment initiation. According to the results obtained, the successive impacts lead to a progressive weakening of the initial film-substrate interface strength depending upon the pretreatments prior to the NCD coating deposition.