Mechanical and tribological characteristics of multicomponent nitride coverings on the basis of Zr, Ti, Nb, Cr and Si

Abstract

The multi-component nitride coverings on the basis of (Zr-Ti-Nb)N, (Zr-Ti-Cr-Nb)N and (Zr-Ti-Cr-Nb-Si)N are received by the method of vacuum-arc deposition from multielement cathodes Zr-Ti-Nb, Zr-Ti-Cr-Nb, Zr-Ti-Cr-Nb-Si in the environment of nitrogen (N₂). The researches show that chemical composition, microstructure and mechanical and tribological characteristics of coverings are intimately bound to deposition parameters, in particular as: pressure of working gas and potential of shift on the substrate. It is defined that multi-component coverings (Zr-Ti-Cr-Nb-Si)N and (Zr-Ti-Nb)N are simple face-centered cubic solid solution (FCC)). For coverings without Si the structure generally consists of the phase TiN (FCC) and trigonal modification Cr₂N. The values of hardness were in the range (24–45 GPa). The coverings (Zr-Ti-Nb)N and (Zr-TiCr-Nb) of N provide the best adhesion strength in various conditions of a sliding friction. The coverings (ZrTi-Cr-Nb-Si)N showed the worst adhesion strength that is possible to explain with the relative low hardness. The data of coverings are submitted perspective as protective for couples of sliding friction and cutting instrument.