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Tribological Properties of CrAlN and TiN Coatings Tested in Nano- and Micro-scale Laboratory Wear Tests

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Abstract

We investigated the tribological properties of CrAlN and TiN coatings produced by electron beam plasma-assisted physical vapor deposition by nano- and micro-scale wear tests. For comparison, we also conducted nano-indentation, nano-scanning wear tests, and pin-on-disk tribotests on uncoated M2 steel. The results indicate that, after nano-scale sliding tests against diamond indenter and pin-on-disk tests against ceramic alumina counterface pins, the CrAlN coating presents superior abrasive wear resistance compared to the TiN-coated and uncoated M2 steel samples. Against aluminum counterface, aluminum is more prone to attach on the CrAlN coating surface compared to TiN coating, but no apparent adhesive wear was observed, which has occurred on the TiN coating.

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Acknowledgments

Financial supports from the National Nature Science Foundation of China (51301153), Zhejiang Provincial National Natural Science Foundation of China (LQ13E050008) and National Undergraduate Training Programs for Innovation and Entrepreneurship of China (201410345022) are greatly appreciated.

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Correspondence to Shugen Hu or Linlin Wang.

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Hong, L., Bian, G., Hu, S. et al. Tribological Properties of CrAlN and TiN Coatings Tested in Nano- and Micro-scale Laboratory Wear Tests. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 24, 2670–2677 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-015-1417-1

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