Effects of interlayer thickness and the substrate material on the adhesion properties of CrZrN coatings

Abstract

To confirm the influence of the interlayer thickness and substrate material on adhesion properties, CrZrN coatings with various Cr interlayer thickness were deposited on AISI H13, high speed steel, and tungsten carbide using unbalanced magnetron sputtering. The adhesion strength showed maximum value at 300 nm of the interlayer, but as the interlayer increased further to 450 nm, the adhesion strength decreased. The adhesion properties of the coatings were dependent upon not only interlayer thickness but also the substrate materials. The adhesion strength of the coating were measured 12, 32, 53 N on the tungsten carbide, AISI H13 steel, high speed steel, respectively and three different failure modes such as buckling spallation, wedging spallation, and chipping were observed on each substrate. The difference in adhesion properties could be attributed to the difference in value of elastic strain to failure (H/E) among the CrZrN coating, the interlayer, and the substrates material.