Mechanical properties and adhesion strength of TiN and Al coatings on HSS, steel, aluminium and copper characterized by four testing Methods

TiN and Al coatings on substrates of high-speed steel, steel, aluminium and copper have been used to study mechanical properties of coating systems, especially the adhesion of the coating. The quantities measured are internal stress of the coating, determined by X-ray diffraction, the critical load of the scratch test, the microhardness obtained by the indenter technique, and the interface fracture energy, determined by a three-point bend test developed recently by the authors. The fracture energy, G_c, is a measure for the adhesion strength of a coating system. The effect of bias voltage, sputter cleaning and contamination of the substrates on the adhesion strength and other mechanical properties are investigated with the four methods mentioned. Each of the testing methods reveal only specific aspects of the behaviour of the coating systems. The data obtained depend on bulk properties of the film and the substrate material and on properties of the interface. Variation of the bias voltage can change them in quite different ways. In addition, the inter-relations between the adhesion strength of the coating and the failure behaviour of the three-point bend test samples are discussed.