Comparative analysis of tribological characteristics of multilayer metal nitride systems CrAlSiN/Cr and CrAlSiN/Ti

The article considers multilayer coatings of the CrAlSiN/Cr and CrAlSiN/Ti structures. A distinctive feature of the coatings is the technological mode of their application: three-cathode arc for the CrAlSiN/Cr system and the hybrid technology of CrAlSiN cathode-arc evaporation and Ti magnetron sputtering. The samples have different coating architecture, thickness and morphology, these features are determined by the experimental objectives of the study. Tribological tests of these coatings were carried out, which demonstrated high wear resistance of CrAlSiN/Cr coating samples with a coefficient of friction in the range of ~0.30-0.50. In contrast, the CrAlSiN/Ti system coatings had a low coefficient of friction of ~ 0.15 and relatively high wear. To assess the wear resistance and analyze the wear mechanism, studies of the surface morphology of friction tracks were carried out. For the CrAlSiN/Cr coating, the fatigue type of wear is predominant, characterized by the appearance of microcracks in the friction track, the CrAlSiN/Ti coating, in turn, has abrasive wear, traces of crumpling and micro-cutting are observed. When studying multilayer composite metallonitride ion-plasma coatings under dry friction, the CrAlSiN/Cr coating turned out to be more wear-resistant, the layers of which have higher elastic properties.
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