Effects Of Component Proportion On Microstructure And Mechanical Properties Of (ZrTiAl)N Films

The(ZrTiAl)N hard reactive films with the different metal component proportion are deposited by multi arc ion plating.The effects of metal component proportion on the phase structure and hardness of(ZrTiAl)N films are investigated.In order to ensure the regular variation of the content ratio of Zr,Ti and Al in the(ZrTiAl)N films.The cathode arc source current,bias voltage,reaction gas flow rate and deposition initial temperature during the film deposition process were set up respectively.The composition,micro-structure,phase composition and mechanical properties of(ZrTiAl)N films were investigated systematically,and the influence of Zr/(Ti+Al+Zr)metal component ratio on the hardness of the films was revealed.The surface morphology and section morphology of the(ZrTiAl)N films were observed by scanning electron microscopy.The X-ray small angle diffraction method is used for the test and analysis of the phase structure of the films.The hardness of the films was measured with VICKERS 402 MVD hardness tester and the adhesion of the films to the substrate was tested with WS-2005 coating adhesion automatic scratch tester.The(ZrTiAl)N films maintain the uniformity of the surface morphology,the cross-sectional morphology and the thickness of the films.The(ZrTiAl)N films were composed of a single solid solution type(ZrTiAl)N face centered cubic phase with a single(111)plane preferred growth orientation.The lattice constant varies with the metal component ratio and conforms to Vegard's law.As the molar concentration of ZrN increases,the lattice constant of the(ZrTiAl)N films increase.Compared with the calculation results of Vegard's law the lattice constant changes have consistent regularity,but the lattice constant test values are higher than the calculated value of Vegard's law.In terms of hardness,the hardness of the(ZrTiAl)N films does not change monotonously with the increase of the lattice constant and does not change monotonously with the change of a certain single metal component either.As the Zr content increases,the film has multiple extreme points.When the atomic ratio of Zr/(Ti+Al+Zr)is 0.31 and 0.39.The hardness of the film appears to be the maximum,which is 3500 HV and 3600 HV respectively.When the atomic ratio of Zr/(Ti+Al+Zr)is 0.35 and 0.50.The hardness of the film layer is extremely small,which is 2200 HV and 2300 HV respectively.The scratch test of(ZrTiAl)N hard films shows that the bonding strength of the film prepared in this study is stable at about 80 N.And the adjustment of bias voltage and current has little effect on the bonding force of(ZrTiAl)N films.