Effect of Ti Target Current on the Properties of AlCrTiN-DLC Composite Coatings

JIA Yongfei; DENG Cailin; ZHANG Zhen; XU Jingying; HAO Jing; XU Yuxuan; LIU Yanmei; WANG Tiegang

doi:10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2026.13.007

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Surface Technology ›› 2026, Vol. 55 ›› Issue (13) : 76-88. DOI: 10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2026.13.007

Friction, Wear and Lubrication

Effect of Ti Target Current on the Properties of AlCrTiN-DLC Composite Coatings

JIA Yongfei, DENG Cailin, ZHANG Zhen, XU Jingying, HAO Jing, XU Yuxuan, LIU Yanmei, WANG Tiegang^*

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Abstract

The work aims to innovatively regulate Ti target current via arc ion plating (AIP) technology to prepare DLC, AlCrN-DLC and three AlCrTiN-DLC composite coatings with gradient Ti contents, systematically investigating the intrinsic mechanism of Ti contents on the microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties of the coatings, and determining the optimal process parameter for fabricating high-performance tool coatings. The substrates (cemented carbide, stainless steel, monocrystalline Si) were pretreated by alternate cleaning and glow discharge, and the deposition was conducted with AlCr target current set at 80 A, C target current set at 60 A, and Ti target current set at 0 A, 80 A, 90 A and 100 A, under the working pressure 2.8 Pa, substrate bias -200 V and deposition temperature 150 ℃ for 80 min. The microstructure was characterized by XRD, SEM, EDS and XPS, the mechanical properties including hardness, elastic modulus and critical load were tested by nanoindentation and scratch tester and the tribological behavior was evaluated via UMT-TRIBOLAB with Al₂O₃ ball as friction pair under 2 N load and 120 r/min rotation speed. XRD results revealed that Ti target current induced a structural transition from solid solution strengthening to phase separation in AlCrTiN-DLC coatings. At 90 A, Ti reached the solid solubility limit, forming a dense amorphous-nanocrystalline composite structure composed of fcc-(Al,Cr,Ti)(C,N) solid solution with the smallest grain size of 13.22 nm and lattice constant of 4.17 Å, where (200) was the preferred growth plane and (220) texture was enhanced. When the current rose to 100 A, phase separation occurred, generating new phases such as hcp-Ti₂AlN, c-Cr₂Ti and c-AlTi₃, leading to grain coarsening to 20.31 nm. XPS characterization further confirmed that 90 A was the critical point for carbon bonding and nanostructure synergistic strengthening: Ti-C bonds formed at this current, and N atoms preferentially combined with Ti due to the higher Ti-N bond energy (476 kJ/mol) than Al-N (297 kJ/mol) and Cr-N (414 kJ/mol), while excessive Ti at 100 A consumed free Ti to form nitrides, inhibiting TiC generation. Mechanical properties of the coatings exhibited a first increase then decrease trend with the rise of Ti target current, achieving the optimal at 90 A: the hardness and elastic modulus reached 39.708 GPa and 499.534 GPa, H/E and H³/E*² were 0.079 and 0.248 GPa, and the critical load of film-substrate bonding force peaked at 52.45 N. The scratch test showed that the coating at 90 A presented ductile failure mode with gradual stress release, while other coatings showed brittle failure with sudden signal mutation, which was attributed to the synergistic effect of hard fcc-(Al,Cr,Ti)(C,N) phase and tough amorphous DLC matrix that delayed crack initiation and propagation. Tribological tests indicated that the friction coefficient and wear rate of the coatings displayed a trend of rising first, then falling and rising again. The pure DLC coating had excellent self-lubricity with a friction coefficient of 0.183, while the AlCrN-DLC coating at 0 A showed the worst tribological properties (friction coefficient 0.587, wear rate 2.36×10^-8 mm³/(N·m)) due to brittle phase spalling. The AlCrTiN-DLC coating at 90 A achieved the optimal tribological properties with the lowest friction coefficient (0.267) and wear rate (1.29×10^-8 mm³/(N·m)), and the shallowest and narrowest wear scar (0.81 μm in depth, 0.215 mm in width). The excellent wear resistance was derived from the high H³/E*² value and the dense amorphous- nanocrystalline composite structure, which effectively resisted the intrusion of friction pair and inhibited grain boundary slip. However, the precipitation of metastable phases at 100 A led to loose structure and sharp decline of tribological properties, with the wear scar deteriorating to 1.32 μm in depth and 0.25 mm in width. This work clarifies the quantitative relationship between Ti target current and the structure-performance of AlCrTiN-DLC composite coatings, and identifies 90 A as the optimal Ti target current for preparing high-performance coatings. The prepared coating with amorphous-nanocrystalline composite structure realizes the synergistic optimization of hardness, bonding force and tribological properties, which provides a precise process reference for the formulation optimization of tool coatings and their application in cutting difficult-to-machine materials under extreme working conditions.

Key words

arc ion plating / AlCrTiN-DLC composite coatings / Ti target current / property regulation

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JIA Yongfei, DENG Cailin, ZHANG Zhen, XU Jingying, HAO Jing, XU Yuxuan, LIU Yanmei, WANG Tiegang. Effect of Ti Target Current on the Properties of AlCrTiN-DLC Composite Coatings[J]. Surface Technology. 2026, 55(13): 76-88

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Funding

The Special Project for Basic Research Cooperation among Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei (25JJJJC0019); Key Project of Natural Science Foundation of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (2025ZDLH004)