Qualitative Evaluation of Mechanical Properties of TiAlN Nanostructured Coatings Deposited on Cutting Tools by Analysis of XRD Results

The purpose of this paper is a qualitative evaluation of the mechanical properties of titanium aluminum nitride (TiAlN) hard nanostructured coatings applied on cutting tools using X-ray diffraction (XRD). Deposition of TiAlN and TiN nanostructured coatings were carried out by a pulse DC plasma-assisted vapor deposition (DC-PACVD) and a high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) machines. At first, for enhancement the adhesion of TiAlN nanostructured coating on the steel substrate, TiN inter-layer was deposited for the all samples. Nano-indentation, micro-hardness tester, and field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) were used in order to measured and compare the qualitative results with the real and experimental values. The results indicate that XRD pattern and their analysis can be a suitable qualitative method to evaluate the mechanical properties of the coatings. The lattice parameter, micro-strain, residual stress, texture coefficient, the crystal grain size and density of dislocation are used to demonstrate the relationship between the mechanical properties of the coatings and the XRD patterns. As a result, this method can be used as non-destructive and inexpensive method for quantitative comparison and evaluation of mechanical properties of thin film materials.