• TiN/CrN coatings show higher hardness than Cr/CrN across all substrates. • Layer number increases hardness in Cr/CrN, but not in TiN/CrN systems. • Ductile Cr layers reduce cracking only when thick enough to accommodate strain. • Harder, stiffer substrates significantly improve load-bearing and damage tolerance. This paper presents results on multilayer coatings deposited on different substrates by vacuum arc PVD method. The coatings had similar total thickness but differed in the number and thickness of individual layers. Mechanical behaviour was evaluated using microhardness and nanoindentation tests, followed by detailed analysis of deformation and cracking using FIB+SEM. Tribological properties were determined using ball-on-disc method. The results show that TiN/CrN coatings exhibit higher hardness than Cr/CrN. In Cr/CrN systems, hardness increased with increasing layer number, whereas no clear dependence on layer number was observed for TiN/CrN coatings. The presence of a ductile phase and higher substrate stiffness reduced crack formation. Increasing the number of layers in Cr/CrN coatings promoted cracking due to reduced plastic deformation capability, while higher layer numbers in TiN/CrN coatings led to fewer fractures and improved overall damage tolerance. For both coatings higher number of interfaces has a positive effect on wear resistance.
Wieciński et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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