The post-annealing effect on tribological and corrosion behaviors of CrN/AlCrN multilayered coating applied by CAE-PVD

The present study investigated the wear and electrochemical behaviors of CrN/AlCrN multilayered coatings post-annealed at 300, 450, and 600 degrees C temperatures. The cathodic arc evaporation technique has been utilized to deposit the coatings. Scanning electron microscope, field emission SEM, energy-dispersive X-ray, grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, and Rockwell-C indenter methods were used to characterize the coatings and to investigate the interdiffusion between the multilayered CrN/AlCrN and the H13 base metal. The results showed that the sharp interface of the CrN and AlCrN layers was blurred by the annealing process supporting the interdiffusion of the layers. The reciprocating wear test and the microhardness tester were used to evaluate the coatings' mechanical behavior. The hardness and roughness of the coatings were increased by increasing the post-annealing temperature. The smallest wear rates were observed for the samples treated at 300 and 450 degrees C, which were approximately 17 times and 12 times smaller than the wear rate of the sample annealed at 600 degrees C. Electrochemical testing was used to study the corrosion behavior of the coatings. The results showed that by increasing annealing temperature, corrosion resistances of the coatings are improved. As a result, the corrosion current density of the 600 degrees C annealed coating was approximately 434 times smaller than as-deposited coatings.

Automated summary

The wear and electrochemical behaviors of CrN/AlCrN multilayered coatings annealed at different temperatures were investigated in this study. The deposition of the coatings was done using the cathodic arc evaporation technique. Characterization techniques such as SEM, field emission SEM, X-ray diffraction, and Rockwell-C indenter were used to analyze the coatings and the interdiffusion between the layers. The results showed that the interdiffusion of the layers increased with increasing annealing temperature, leading to changes in mechanical and corrosion properties of the coatings.