Characterisation of Pristine and Recoated electron beam evaporation plasma-assisted physical vapour deposition Cr–N coatings on AISI M2 steel and WC–Co substrates

This paper is focussed on the characterisation of electron beam evaporation plasma-assisted physical vapour deposition Cr–N coatings deposited on AISI M2 steel and hardmetal (K10) substrates in two different conditions: Pristine (i.e., coated) and Recoated (i.e., stripped and recoated). Analytical methods, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, scratch adhesion and pin-on-disc tests were used to evaluate several coating properties. XRD analyses indicated that both Pristine and Recoated coatings consisted of a mixture of hexagonal Cr2N and cubic CrN, regardless of substrate type. For the M2 steel substrate, only small differences were found in terms of coating phases, microstructure, adhesion, friction and wear coefficients between Pristine and Recoated. Recoated on WC–Co (K10) exhibited a less dense microstructure and significant inferior adhesion compared to Pristine on WC–Co (K10). The wear coefficient of Recoated on WC–Co was 100 times higher than those exhibited by all other specimens. The results obtained confirm that the stripping process did not adversely affect the Cr–N properties when this coating was deposited onto M2 steel substrates, but it is clear from the unsatisfactory tribological performance of Recoated on WC–Co that the stripping process is unsuitable for hardmetal substrates.