Influence of Al Content on the Microstructure and Properties of the CrAlN Coatings Deposited by Arc Ion Plating

doi:10.1007/s40195-017-0656-6

Abstract

Abstract:

Four CrAlN coatings with various Al content were prepared by arc ion plating technology under different target currents. The effect of the Al content on the microstructure, chemical compositions, element chemical bonding states and mechanical properties of the CrAlN coatings was analyzed. X-ray diffraction results show that the primary phase of the CrAlN coating is fcc-(Al, Cr)N when the Al content is about 44.02 at.%. However, when the Al content increases to about 53.34 at.%, hcp-AlN phase emerges in the coating. And the hcp-AlN phase becomes the main phase in the CrAlN coating with Al content of about 69.55 at.%. Cross-sectional images show that all the four coatings possess dense structures and the deposition rate of Al atom is higher than that of Cr atom. The hardness of the CrAlN coating with Al content about 44.02 at.% is the largest (3149.72 HV) due to the solid solution hardening effect of the Al element. When the hcp-AlN phase is generated in the CrAlN coating, the hardness declines. The tribological experiment shows that the wear resistance of the CrAlN coating decreases gradually with increasing Al content when sliding against 100Cr6 steel ball.

Key words: Arc ion plating, Microstructure characterization, Hardness, Al content

Qi-Xiang Fan, Jiao-Jiao Zhang, Zheng-Huan Wu, Yan-Mei Liu, Tao Zhang, Bing Yan, Tie-Gang Wang. Influence of Al Content on the Microstructure and Properties of the CrAlN Coatings Deposited by Arc Ion Plating[J]. Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters), 2017, 30(12): 1221-1230.

Figures/Tables 11

Table 1 The deposition parameters of the CrAlN coatings deposited by arc ion plating

Parameters	Value
Base pressure (Pa)	5 × 10^-4
Working pressure (Pa)	0.8
Bias voltage (V)	- 30
Ar flow (sccm)	100
N₂ flow (sccm)	100
Deposition temperature (°C)	300
Deposition time (min)	120
Arc current of Al and Cr target (A)	70:100; 80:90; 100:80; 120:80
Rotation speed of the sample (r/min)	30
Distance between the substrate and target (mm)	120

Table 2 Deposition current, the target current ratio I Al/(I Cr + I Al), average composition, content ratio C Al/(C Al + C Cr) and thickness of the CrAlN coatings deposited by arc ion plating

	I _Al(A)	I _Cr(A)	I _Al/(I _Cr + I _Al)	Composition (at.%)	C _Al/(C _Al + C _Cr)	Thickness (μm)
CrAlN1	70	100	0.4118	26.07Al-33.15Cr-40.78N	0.4402	3.12
CrAlN2	80	90	0.4706	30.77Al-26.92Cr-42.31N	0.5334	3.76
CrAlN3	100	80	0.5556	39.19Al-23.07Cr-37.75N	0.6300	3.78
CrAlN4	120	80	0.6	36.87Al-16.14Cr-46.99N	0.6955	4.71

Fig. 1 XRD patterns of the four CrAlN coatings deposited by arc ion plating under different target currents

Fig. 2 XPS peaks in the Cr 2p spectra of the four CrAlN coatings deposited by arc ion plating under different target currents a CrAlN1#, b CrAlN2#, c CrAlN3#, d CrAlN4#

Fig. 3 XPS peaks in the N 1s spectra of the four CrAlN coatings deposited by arc ion plating under different target currents a CrAlN1#, b CrAlN2#, c CrAlN3#, d CrAlN4#

Fig. 4 Surface morphologies of the four CrAlN coatings deposited by arc ion plating technology under different target currents a CrAlN1#, b CrAlN2#, c CrAlN3#, d CrAlN4#

Fig. 5 Cross-sectional morphologies of the four CrAlN coatings deposited by arc ion plating technology under different target currents a CrAlN1#, b CrAlN2#, c CrAlN3#, d CrAlN4#

Fig. 6 Deposition rate vs the current ratio I Al/(I Al + I Cr) of the four CrAlN coatings deposited by arc ion plating technology

Fig. 7 Hardness of the CrAlN coatings as a function of the Al content

Fig. 8 Friction coefficient versus number of laps of the four CrAlN coatings deposited by arc ion plating under different currents

Fig. 9 Worn surface images of the four CrAlN coatings deposited by arc ion plating under different currents

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