Tribological Behaviors of Super-Hard TiAlN Coatings Deposited by Filtered Cathode Vacuum Arc Deposition

High hardness improves the material’s load-bearing capacity, resulting in the enhancement of tribological properties. However, the high hardness is difficult to achieve for TiAlN coating due to the transformation of the close-packed structure from cubic to hexagonal and the increase in the grain siz...

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Main Authors: Zhiqiang Zhang, Lan Zhang, Heng Yuan, Menglin Qiu, Xu Zhang, Bin Liao, Fengshou Zhang, Xiaoping Ouyang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-03-01
Series:Materials
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/15/6/2236
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author Zhiqiang Zhang
Lan Zhang
Heng Yuan
Menglin Qiu
Xu Zhang
Bin Liao
Fengshou Zhang
Xiaoping Ouyang
author_facet Zhiqiang Zhang
Lan Zhang
Heng Yuan
Menglin Qiu
Xu Zhang
Bin Liao
Fengshou Zhang
Xiaoping Ouyang
author_sort Zhiqiang Zhang
collection DOAJ
description High hardness improves the material’s load-bearing capacity, resulting in the enhancement of tribological properties. However, the high hardness is difficult to achieve for TiAlN coating due to the transformation of the close-packed structure from cubic to hexagonal and the increase in the grain size when the Al content is high. In the present study, the ultrahard TiAlN coatings (hardness > 40 GPa) are successfully developed by filtered cathodic vacuum arc technology to study the effect of nitrogen flux rate on tribological behaviors. The highest hardness of 46.39 GPa is obtained by tuning the nitrogen flux rate to achieve the regulation of Al content and the formation of nanocrystalline. The stable fcc TiAlN phase is formed via the solid-phase reaction under a high nitrogen concentration, and more aluminum atoms replace the titanium atoms in the (Ti, Al)N solid solution. The high Al content of the Ti<sub>0.35</sub>Al<sub>0.65</sub>N coating has a nanocrystalline structure and the average crystalline size is 16.52 nm. The TiAlN coating deposited at a nitrogen flux rate of 60 sccm exhibits the best properties of a combination of microhardness = 2972.91 Hv<sub>0.5</sub>, <i>H</i> = 46.39 GPa, <i>E</i> = 499.4 Gpa, ratio <i>H/E*</i> = 0.093 and ratio <i>H</i><sup>3</sup>/<i>E*</i><sup>2</sup> = 0.403. Meanwhile, the TiAlN coating deposited at 60 sccm shows the lowest average friction coefficient of 0.43 and wear rate of 1.3 × 10<sup>−7</sup> mm<sup>3</sup> N<sup>−1</sup> m<sup>−1</sup> due to the best mechanical properties.
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spelling doaj.art-0d8bfacda7ef4b8cb3d90242434043fe2023-11-30T21:21:36ZengMDPI AGMaterials1996-19442022-03-01156223610.3390/ma15062236Tribological Behaviors of Super-Hard TiAlN Coatings Deposited by Filtered Cathode Vacuum Arc DepositionZhiqiang Zhang0Lan Zhang1Heng Yuan2Menglin Qiu3Xu Zhang4Bin Liao5Fengshou Zhang6Xiaoping Ouyang7Key Laboratory of Beam Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Nuclear Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaKey Laboratory of Beam Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Nuclear Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaKey Laboratory of Beam Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Nuclear Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaKey Laboratory of Beam Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Nuclear Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaKey Laboratory of Beam Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Nuclear Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaKey Laboratory of Beam Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Nuclear Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaKey Laboratory of Beam Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Nuclear Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaKey Laboratory of Beam Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Nuclear Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaHigh hardness improves the material’s load-bearing capacity, resulting in the enhancement of tribological properties. However, the high hardness is difficult to achieve for TiAlN coating due to the transformation of the close-packed structure from cubic to hexagonal and the increase in the grain size when the Al content is high. In the present study, the ultrahard TiAlN coatings (hardness > 40 GPa) are successfully developed by filtered cathodic vacuum arc technology to study the effect of nitrogen flux rate on tribological behaviors. The highest hardness of 46.39 GPa is obtained by tuning the nitrogen flux rate to achieve the regulation of Al content and the formation of nanocrystalline. The stable fcc TiAlN phase is formed via the solid-phase reaction under a high nitrogen concentration, and more aluminum atoms replace the titanium atoms in the (Ti, Al)N solid solution. The high Al content of the Ti<sub>0.35</sub>Al<sub>0.65</sub>N coating has a nanocrystalline structure and the average crystalline size is 16.52 nm. The TiAlN coating deposited at a nitrogen flux rate of 60 sccm exhibits the best properties of a combination of microhardness = 2972.91 Hv<sub>0.5</sub>, <i>H</i> = 46.39 GPa, <i>E</i> = 499.4 Gpa, ratio <i>H/E*</i> = 0.093 and ratio <i>H</i><sup>3</sup>/<i>E*</i><sup>2</sup> = 0.403. Meanwhile, the TiAlN coating deposited at 60 sccm shows the lowest average friction coefficient of 0.43 and wear rate of 1.3 × 10<sup>−7</sup> mm<sup>3</sup> N<sup>−1</sup> m<sup>−1</sup> due to the best mechanical properties.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/15/6/2236super-hardnessnanocrystalline TiAlNmicrostructuretribological behavior
spellingShingle Zhiqiang Zhang
Lan Zhang
Heng Yuan
Menglin Qiu
Xu Zhang
Bin Liao
Fengshou Zhang
Xiaoping Ouyang
Tribological Behaviors of Super-Hard TiAlN Coatings Deposited by Filtered Cathode Vacuum Arc Deposition
Materials
super-hardness
nanocrystalline TiAlN
microstructure
tribological behavior
title Tribological Behaviors of Super-Hard TiAlN Coatings Deposited by Filtered Cathode Vacuum Arc Deposition
title_full Tribological Behaviors of Super-Hard TiAlN Coatings Deposited by Filtered Cathode Vacuum Arc Deposition
title_fullStr Tribological Behaviors of Super-Hard TiAlN Coatings Deposited by Filtered Cathode Vacuum Arc Deposition
title_full_unstemmed Tribological Behaviors of Super-Hard TiAlN Coatings Deposited by Filtered Cathode Vacuum Arc Deposition
title_short Tribological Behaviors of Super-Hard TiAlN Coatings Deposited by Filtered Cathode Vacuum Arc Deposition
title_sort tribological behaviors of super hard tialn coatings deposited by filtered cathode vacuum arc deposition
topic super-hardness
nanocrystalline TiAlN
microstructure
tribological behavior
url https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/15/6/2236
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