The effect of duty cycle on the mechanical and electrochemical corrosion properties of multilayer CrN/CrAlN coatings produced by cathodic arc evaporation

Abstract

Multilayer CrN/CrAlN coatings were deposited on the 420-SS by the cathodic arc evaporation system with different duty cycles of bias-voltage. The deposited films were characterized by XRD and FESEM techniques. Mechanical, electrochemical, and surface properties of deposited films were studied by nano-indentation, electrochemical, and AFM analysis. Microstructure investigation confirmed the formation of adhesive and dense nanostructure multilayer film.Increasing the duty cycle led to the decrease in the coating grain size and promoted the hardness to 34.1 ± 4 GPa. A clear reduction of size and distribution of macroparticles was observed by using large repulsive force at a high duty cycle. By increasing the duty cycle, the coating deposition rate was increased from 1.23 to 1.38 µm/h and the surface roughness was decreased from 155 to 70 nm. The lower corrosion current density was obtained for the film applied at the 40% duty cycle (0.59 µA cm −2 ), which was about 10-order of magnitude less than the substrate.

Tribological Behavior of SINTER30 Steel Subjected to Duplex Treatment

“…In the diffusion zone, these types of compounds (nitrides formed with iron and aluminum, chromium, vanadium, and molybdenum) have already been noticed. [11,[43][44][45] In addition to these compounds, titanium nitrides (Ti 4 N 2.33 and TiN) have been identified in samples. [46][47][48][49] The formation of precipitates in the diffusion zone is expected to increase surface hardness and leads to superior fatigue resistance.…”

“…In the diffusion zone, these types of compounds (nitrides formed with iron and aluminum, chromium, vanadium, and molybdenum) have already been noticed. [ 11,43–45 ] In addition to these compounds, titanium nitrides (Ti 4 N 2.33 and TiN) have been identified in samples. [ 46–49 ]…”

“…In addition, the presence of Cr 0.25 Fe 0.5 V 0.25 and Fe 3 N in all the treated samples (although for the samples TiN4 and TiN4* in the form of Fe 3 Mo 3 N) is typical for plasma nitriding treatments and indicated the formation of precipitates in the diffusion zone. In the diffusion zone, these types of compounds (nitrides formed with iron and aluminum, chromium, vanadium, and molybdenum) have already been noticed [11,[43][44][45]. In addition to these compounds, titanium nitrides (Ti 4 N 2.33 and TiN) have been identified in samples [46][47][48][49].…”

The effect of Ti and Si on the mechanical and electrochemical behaviors of the AlCrN coating deposited by CAPVD on 304SS

“…9 In addition, the processing conditions can also reduce the size and density of these defects. 11 TiN and CrN materials are the first coatings presented in the category of high-value hardness coatings. CrN coating has a lower residual stress and friction coefficient and a higher toughness than TiN coating.…”

“…Some solutions have been reported to remove these undesirable particles, such as electromagnetic and mechanical filters 9 . In addition, the processing conditions can also reduce the size and density of these defects 11 …”