Tribological properties of TiAlN-coated cermets

Ti(C,N)-based cermets were coated with TiAlN using multi-arc ion plating technology. Sliding wear tests were performed on the coated cermets. The microstructure and morphologies of the coated cermets before and after friction and wear tests were characterized. The results show that the TiAlN coating surface was smooth and its root mean square roughness was 16.6 nm. The hardness (HK) of TiAlN coating layers reached approximately 3200 and the critical load (L _c) under which the coating failure occurred was 59 N. The sliding wear test results show that the friction coefficients of the TiAlN-coated cermets were lower than that of the cermets without any coating. Under the same load, the adhesion phenomenon of the counterpart materials on the specimens was improved and the mean friction coefficient increased with increasing sliding velocity. When the sliding velocity was 0.26 m·s⁻¹, the mass of the coated cermets reduced. At the same sliding velocity, the average friction coefficient of the TiAlN-coated cermets was lower under a higher load. The wear mechanisms of the TiAlN-coated cermets were mainly adhesive and abrasive wear.