A series of Al-Cr-SiN hard coatings were deposited on WC-Co substrates with a negative substrate bias voltage ranging from-50 to-200 V using cathodic arc evaporation system. A Rockwell-C adhesion test demonstrated that excellent adhesion was observed at lower bias voltages of-50 V and-80 V, while further increases in bias voltage up to-200 V led to severe delamination and worsening of the overall adhesion strength. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed a single phase cubic B1-structure identified as an AlCrN solid solution with a nanocomposite microstructure where cubic AlCrN nanocrystals were embedded in a thin continuous amorphous SiNx matrix. Coatings exhibited a 002-texture evolution that was more pronounced at higher bias voltages (≥-120 V). Stress-induced cracks were observed inside the coatings at high bias voltages (≥-150 V), which resulted in stress relaxation and a decline in the overall residual stresses.

Nanocomposite AlCrSiN hard coatings were deposited on the cemented carbide substrates with a negative substrate bias voltage within the range of −80 to −120 V using the cathodic arc evaporation system. The effect of variation in the bias voltage on the coating-substrate adhesion and nanohardness was investigated. It was clear that if bias voltage increased, nanohardness increased in the range from −80 V to −120 V. The coating deposited at the bias voltage of −120 V had the highest nanohardness (37.7 ± 1.5 GPa). The samples were prepared by brushing and wet microblasting to finish a surface and prepare the required cutting edge radii for the tool life cutting tests and the coating adhesion observation. The indents after the static Mercedes indentation test were studied by scanning the electron microscope to evaluate the coating-substrate adhesion. The longer time of edge preparation with surface finishing led to a slight deterioration in the adhesion strength of the coating to the substrate. The tool wear of cemented carbide turning inserts was studied on the turning centre during the tool life cutting test. The tested workpiece material was austenitic stainless steel. The cemented carbide turning inserts with larger cutting edge radius were worn out faster during the machining. Meanwhile, the tool life increased when the cutting edge radius was smaller.

Nitride hard coatings Al25.5Cr21Si3.5N were deposited on WC-Co substrates with a different thickness and a negative substrate bias voltage by the LAteral Rotating Cathodes Arc technology. The nanoindentation tests were performed for analysis of AlCrSiN coatings in order to determine the most promising combination of parameters for subsequent machining. On the basis of results of nanohardness measurement and Ratio H/E*, which represents the resistance to plastic deformation and cracking, deposition conditions were selected for coating of turning cemented carbide inserts. For the evaluation of coating adhesion to substrate, Mercedes adhesion test was used. Chip forming tests and long-term tool life tests were performed for determination of cutting parameters (cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut) for AlCrSiN coated cemented carbide inserts when machining austenitic stainless steel material.

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Due to the increased demands for drilling and cutting tools working at extreme machining conditions, protective coatings are extensively utilized to prolong the tool life and eliminate the need for lubricants. The present work reports on the effect of a second MeN (Me = Zr, Cr, Mo, Nb) layer in WN-based nanocomposite multilayers on microstructure, phase composition, and mechanical and tribological properties. The WN/MoN multilayers have not been studied yet, and cathodic-arc physical vapor deposition (CA-PVD) has been used to fabricate studied coating systems for the first time. Moreover, first-principles calculations were performed to gain more insight into the properties of deposited multilayers. Two types of coating microstructure with different kinds of lattices were observed: (i) face-centered cubic (fcc) on fcc-W2N (WN/CrN and WN/ZrN) and (ii) a combination of hexagonal and fcc on fcc-W2N (WN/MoN and WN/NbN). Among the four studied systems, the WN/NbN had superior properties: the lowest specific wear rate (1.7 × 10−6 mm3/Nm) and high hardness (36 GPa) and plasticity index H/E (0.93). Low surface roughness, high elastic strain to failure, Nb2O5 and WO3 tribofilms forming during sliding, ductile behavior of NbN, and nanocomposite structure contributed to high tribological performance. The results indicated the suitability of WN/NbN as a protective coating operating in challenging conditions.

The effects of residual stresses in thin W-C based coatings were investigated with the aim to find their influence on nanohardness and indentation modulus. Ten samples of W-C based coatings were deposited on microslide glass substrates using DC magnetron sputtering at the identical deposition parameters. Their thickness was in the range from 500 to 600 nm. The residual stresses in the coatings varied from 1.5 GPa up to 4.4 GPa. Increase of residual stress caused linear increase of HITfrom 16 to 19.5 GPa. This increase was only the result of the compressive stresses. EITof the studied coatings was not sensitive to residual stresses and corresponded to 185 GPa ± 15 GPa.

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