Investigation of the wear and corrosion behaviors of CrN films onto oxynitriding-treated AISI H13 alloy steel by the direct current magnetron sputtering process

Abstract

• The optimal deposition time of CrN films onto oxynitriding-treated samples was 2.5 h. • Study confirmed that the 2.5 h specimen had the smaller surface roughness (20.5 nm). • 2.5 h specimen possessed the most stable columnar crystal structure of CrN films. • CrN/oxynitriding treated had the relatively lowest wear volume loss (5.38 × 10 −6 mm 3 ). • Duplex surface treatment possesses the lowest corrosion current (4.30 × 10 −5 A·cm −2 ). In the research reported herein, CrN films were coated onto oxynitriding-treated AISI H13 alloy steel using direct current magnetron sputtering deposition technique. The AISI H13 substrate has a 50-µm oxynitrided top layer with a hardness of 1000 HV 0.05 . The duration of the CrN film deposition were varied while the sputtering parameters were kept constant with constant bias of -25 V, power of 100 W, Ar and N 2 gas flow rate of 45 and 30 sccm, respectively, and deposition temperature of 300 °C. The duplex oxynitride/CrN coating exhibited optimal properties when the CrN film was 3.35 µm thick after 2.5 h deposition. This sample showed good adhesion to the oxynitrided layer. It also had the best wear resistance with wear loss volume and specific wear rate was 5.38 × 10 −6 mm 3 and 1.35 × 10 −6 mm 3 ·m − 1 ·N −1 , and good corrosion resistance with a corrosion current of 4.30 × 10 −5 A·cm −2 and polarization resistance of 604.66 Ω·cm 2 . Overall, the CrN/oxynitriding duplex surface treatment is effective in improving the properties of oxynitrided AISI H13 alloy steel.