Effects of arc current and bias voltage on properties of AlCrN coatings by arc ion plating with large target

The AlCrN hard coating was prepared by industrial grade Quark-M500B multi-arc ion plating equipment with large target. The arc current and substrate bias voltage were changed respectively to investigate the influence of deposition parameters on coating properties. The surface and cross-section morphology of coatings were observed by scanning electron microscope. The tribological properties were tested by UMT-2 friction and wear tester, and the corrosion resistance was evaluated by electrochemical workstation. The results show that AlCrN coatings with less macroparticles can be prepared when the arc current is 100 A. With the increase of arc current, the deposition rate of AlCrN coating increases, and the hardness and wear performance of the coating decrease due to the influence of macroparticles and coating compactness. The hardness reaches 2723 HV when the arc current is 100 A, and the friction factor is about 0.84. The wear rate is about 7.1 × 10–6 mm3 N−1·m−1. The bias of substrate does not affect the deposition rate of AlCrN coatings strongly. The hardness, wear resistance and corrosion resistance first increase and then decrease with the increase of substrate bias. The coating shows the best test performance when the bias voltage is −100 V with the hardness 2750 HV. The friction factor is about 0.74, and the wear rate is about 3.5 × 10–6 mm3 N−1·m−1.