Investigating the supremacy of PVD S3p deposition over HiPIMS for AlTiN coating

Abstract

Dry machining of Duplex Stainless Steel 2205 (DSS2205) is a challenging task due to difficulties including high cutting temperatures, work hardening tendency and Built-up Layer (BUL) formation. Moreover, the high demand for DSS stresses improving machining productivity and quality. This study focuses on inspecting the supremacy of the PVD Scalable Pulse Power Plasma (S3p) coating deposition technique, which is rarely used for dry machining DSS, over High Pulse Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) to deposit AlTiN coatings. A combination of evaporation and sputtering used for S3p dominated over HiPIMS. After a machining length of 6240 mm, the AlTiN (HiPIMS) coatings were unable to sustain the dry machining conditions, exhibiting faster tool wear rates than the AlTiN (S3p) coatings. As a result, AlTiN (S3p) exhibited a tool life of 8840 mm, 1.6 times higher than the AlTiN (HiPIMS) coating. The effect of decreasing tool life at any selected cutting speed was more severe at higher feed rates (0.19 mm/rev). The tool life decreased by 56%, 32% and 23% for the uncoated, AlTiN (HiPIMS) and AlTiN (S3p) tools, respectively. The surface roughness and cutting force were found to decrease by a notable 13% and 10%, respectively, due to the excellent properties of AlTiN (S3p) coatings compared to AlTiN (HiPIMS) coatings.