The Effect of PVD Tungsten-Based Coatings on Improvement of Hardness and Wear Resistance

This article deals with the analysis and evaluation of coatings applications made by Physical vapour deposition on ceramics substrates. Main focus is on the application of tungsten and tungsten nitride coatings for functionally graded materials (FGM). The article focuses on analysis and evaluation of tungsten and tungsten nitride coatings with ceramics substrates. Firstly suitable deposition parameters of W and WN coatings, prepared by magnetron sputtering, were tested. Test coatings on tool steel substrate exhibited high adhesion and good mechanical and technological properties. Both tungsten and tungsten nitride coatings on selected ceramics substrates exhibited good mechanical a technological properties. Properties such as hardness, reduced elastic modulus and wear are discussed for each coating/substrate combination. Both coatings seem to be good candidates for application in field of FGM. The results of the presented experiment shows that the adhesion and the final quality of the coating depends on the type of chemical bond in the coating and in the substrate, and on the ability of the coating to deform plastically.