Erosion and Abrasion Resistance, Mechanical Properties, and Structure of the TiN, Ti–Cr–Al–N and Cr–Al–Ti–N Coatings Deposited by CFUBMS

Abstract

The results of structural studies and mechanical, abrasion, and erosion tests of single-layer and multi-layer TiN, Ti–Cr–Al–N, and Cr–Al–Ti–N coatings deposited on a closed-field unbalanced magnetron sputtering (CFUBMS) system using the ion-plasma technique are reported. It is demonstrated that, despite their low level of hardness (17–18 GPa versus 40 GPa for TiN), Ti–Cr–Al–N and Cr–Al–Ti–N coatings are superior to single-layer titanium nitride coatings in terms of their abrasive wear resistance and erosion resistance due to their structural features.