Tribotechnical and mechanical properties of Ti-Al-N nanocomposite coatings deposited by the ion-plasma method

The possibility of formation of nanocrystalline Ti-Al-N coatings using the method of ion-plasma deposition is demonstrated. The mechanical and tribotechnical characteristics of the coatings in comparison with TiN coating are studied. Ti-Al-N nanocomposite coatings possess high hardness (35 GPa) and higher wear resistance and lower wear capacity as compared to TiN coating. For a grain size of 12–15 nm the nanostructural Ti-Al-N coating has the following elemental composition: Ti ≈ 60 at %, N ≈ 30 at %, Al ≈ 10 at %. The phase composition of the coating represents the solid solution (Ti, Al)N. For this elemental and phase composition and nanograin size maximal hardness and elasticity modulus of the coating are found.