Physical vapor deposition (PVD) multilayered coatings with titanium nitride and chromium nitride top layers were deposited on UNS S17400 alloy in an attempt to improve the corrosion and corrosion-wear resistance of this stainless steel in corrosive environments. The coatings were produced in an industrial chamber by cathodic arc PVD on heat-treated and mechanically polished stainless steel specimens. The microstructures of the substrates and coatings were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy system. To evaluate the corrosion and corrosion-wear resistance, reciprocating-sliding tribometer and electrochemical tests were conducted in 3.5% NaCl solution. The results showed that nitride coatings possess, in general, better corrosion and corrosion-wear resistance compared with bare S17400 substrates. Specimens with CrN top coating revealed a typical compact structure and superior corrosion resistance compared with substrate and TiN top coating. However, the sliding motion damaged the surface with some microcracks on the coating, which act as the diffusion channels for NaCl solution; both TiN and CrN top coats experienced approximately similar behavior in corrosion-wear open-circuit potential testing.
In the present study, multilayered Cr–N/Cr–Al–N coatings were prepared by cathodic arc physical vapor deposition (PVD) with different numbers of layers and the same total thickness on AISI 630 steel in an attempt to improve the wear and erosion–corrosion resistance. Structural analysis of the coatings was performed by field scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and energy‐dispersive spectroscopy. Depth profiles and roughness parameters of worn surfaces were calculated after erosion and wear tests. XRD indicated that nitride compounds were formed in multilayer coatings by PVD. The Cr–N/Cr–Al–N coating exhibited superior corrosion resistance compared with AISI 630 substrate. The erosion–corrosion results revealed that the smoothest wear track with the minimum erosion rate and wear depth was obtained for five‐ and seven‐layered coatings. The failure mechanism of the bare substrate was influenced by plastic deformation via cutting and plowing, while the failure mechanism for coated samples was chipping and delamination. According to the wear results, the multilayer coatings showed a lower friction coefficient and better surface morphology that demonstrated their high ability for wear protection.
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