Effect of Modulation Period on the Mechanical and Tribological Behavior of (crnbtialv)cn/mon Coatings

This work is to deposit (CrNbTiAlV)CN/MoN coatings by alternating sputtering with multiple targets. The hardness and elastic modulus of the (CrNbTiAlV)CN/MoN multilayer coatings gradually increase with the decreasing of the modulation period from 420 to 110 nm; however, the values decrease on the multilayer coating with a modulation period of 50 nm. As the modulation period decreases, the characteristic of MoO3 debris changes from large flakes to smooth transfer tribolayers and then to small particles. The coating with a modulation period of 110 nm has a minimum friction coefficient and wear rate of about 0.11 and 4.4 × 10–6 mm3/(N m) at 500°C, respectively. This can be attributed to the fact that it has the best resistance to plastic deformation and tends to form smooth transfer tribolayers.