Thermostability, oxidation, and high-temperature tribological properties of nano-multilayered AlCrSiN/VN coatings

In this study, monolithic AlCrSiN, VN, and nano-multilayered AlCrSiN/VN coatings were deposited using a hybrid deposition system combining arc ion plating and pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering. The microstructure, thermostability, mechanical, oxidation and tribological properties of the coatings were comparably investigated. The multilayered AlCrSiN/VN coating exhibited a face-centered cubic (fcc) structure with (200) preferred orientation and showed the highest hardness (30.7 +/- 0.5 GPa) among these three coatings due to the multilayer interface enhancement mechanism and higher compressive stress. The AlCrSiN sublayers effectively prevented the V element from rapid outward diffusion to the surface of AlCrSiN/VN coating at elevated temperatures, which improved the oxidation resistance of the coating. Decomposition of V (Cr)-N bonds occurred at annealing temperatures from 800 degrees C to 1000 degrees C and V2N phase appeared at 1100 degrees C. The AlCrSiN/VN coating showed excellent tribological performance at high temperatures by combining the merits of VN layers for low friction coefficient and AlCrSiN layers for superior oxidation resistance. Compared to VN and AlCrSiN coatings, AlCrSiN/VN coating showed the lowest wear rate of 2.6 x10(-1)(5) m(3)/N.m at 600 degrees C and lowest friction coefficient of 0.26 at 800 degrees C with a relativity low wear rate of 39.4x10(-15) m(3)/N.m.

Automated summary

This study investigated the microstructure, thermostability, mechanical, oxidation, and tribological properties of monolithic AlCrSiN, VN, and nano-multilayered AlCrSiN/VN coatings. The results showed that the AlCrSiN/VN coating exhibited superior performance in terms of hardness, oxidation resistance, and tribological behavior at high temperatures compared to the other two coatings.