Abrasive wear resistance and cutting performance of complex PVD coatings

Abstract In recent years the development of physical vapour deposition coatings for improved wear resistance of cutting tools is turning to more complex coating systems. Different multilayer systems are offered in addition to binary, ternary and quaternary monolayer coatings. Their variety makes it impossible to test all possible coatings under real machining conditions. Model wear tests such as the Taber Abraser test can help in preselecting the coatings with a good potential to perform successfully. In this paper we compare the results of the Taber Abraser test of different multicomponent and multilayer coating combinations within the system Ti-Zr-C-N with the results of cemented carbide indexable tips in interrupted-cut machining. It is shown that the results of both examinations often correlate and that abrasive wear tests can be used to give information about the potential of coatings under special cutting conditions.