Study On The Tribological Behaviors Of Magnetron Sputtering And Ion Plating TiAIN Coatings Under Reciprocating Sliding Condition

TiAlN is a kind of new multi-component coating which has attracted widely increasing attentions recent years developed from TiN coating. Because of the addition of Al, TiAIN coating not only is better than TiN coating in terms of hardness and wear resistance, but also improves the high temperature resistance of the TiN coating greatly. TiAIN coating has replaced TiN coating gradually to improve the service performances and operating life, especially in the field of cutting tools.In this paper, the tribological behaviors of reciprocating sliding for two TiAIN coatings which prepared by different PVD technologies (magnetron sputtering and ion plating) have been studied on PLINT wear tester and CETR multifunctional wear tester. Base on the analyses of friction kinetics, some micro-examination means, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), laser confocal scanning microscopy (LCSM), Energy Dispersive X-ray spectrum (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), were used to analyze the tribological characteristics under varied the test parameters of normal loads and displacement amplitudes. The tribo-chemical effect on wear and the wear mechanisms of the coatings were discussed in detail. And the behaviors of friction and wear for the coatings under different test rigs were also compared. The main research results are as follows:1. The variations of friction coefficients of TiAIN coatings were classified in five stages, i.e. running-in, ascending, peak value, descending and steady stages. With the increase of the normal loads, the friction coefficients decreased. And the friction coefficients increased with the increase of the displacement amplitudes.2. In the initial stages, the mode of wear for the two TiAIN coatings mainly was abrasive wear. And the damage mechanisms of the coatings were the combination of abrasive wear, oxidation wear and delamination.3. The wear of the magnetron sputtering TiAIN coating was slighter andpresented better wear resistance than that of the ion plating coating. The tribological properties of the TiAlN coatings were deeply dependent upon their microstructures.4. Under the conditions of in the lubricant media of emulsion and coolant oil, the tribological properties of the TiAlN coatings were improved obviously. And the operating life was lengthened greatly.5. Comparing the experimental results of the cutting tests to the reciprocating sliding tests, it was found that the evaluation results of the properties of anti-wear for the coatings were uniform. Therefore, the evaluation method with reciprocating sliding tests in laboratory can be used to characterize the cutting properties of coating tools.6. The experimental results obtained from two test system showed that the extents of friction and wear for the TiAlN coatings presented slight difference. However, the characteristics of the two coatings for anti-wear under two test modes were same.