Influence of Cr on the Surface Properties of the Micro-Textured WC plus Co Alloy Coating

In this paper, we investigated the effect of Cr on the surface properties of the micro-textured WC+Co alloy coating. An interactive test was designed that considered the parameters of an AlSiTiN coating and an AlSiTiN-AlCrN double coating. Using hardness and phase composition as evaluation criteria, the influence of Cr on the mechanical properties and microstructure of the coating surface was analyzed. A friction and wear test platform was formed to explore the mechanism of the Cr influence on the friction performance and wear state of the coating surface. The results show that Cr leads to the generation of the alpha-Cr phase particles in the surface structure of the specimen. They easily combine with C to form carbides, which improve the coating hardness; the atomic radius of Cr is smaller than that of Al, so it can dissolve in AlN. This induces lattice distortion, changing the phase composition in the structure; the coating with Cr exhibits better surface friction performance and wear morphology, simultaneously generating enhanced mechanical vibrations.