Super-hard carbon and boron nitride layers produced on the Al2O3-Mo cutting edges
Krzysztof Biesiada, Marek Kostecki, Andrzej Olszyna Politechnika Warszawska, Wydział Inżynierii Materiałowej, ul. Wołoska 141, 02-507 Warszawa
Annals 4 No. 11, 2004 pages 248-253
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abstract The aim of the study was to examine how the cutting properties of tool blades are affected by super-hard ceramic (carbon and boron nitride) coatings produced by the impulse plasma method (PACVD). The cutting plates were made of layered NCD (c-BN)/Al2O3/Al2O3+x%Mo composites produced by foil casting. The highest density (96%), the greatest bending strength (819 MPa) and the highest stress intensity factor (7.75 MPam1/2) were obtained with the layered Al2O3/Al2O3+ +14 vol.%Mo composite, and, thus, it was only this composite which was used for further experiments with depositing the super-hard coatings. The phase composition of the coatings was examined by Raman spectroscopy. The deposited carbon layers were identified to be nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) contaminated with super-finegrained graphite, whereas the boron nitride layers appeared to be a mixture of the ‘coarsegrained’ c-BN phase with the nano-crystalline h-BN and E-BN phases. The thickness, roughness, adhesion to the substrate, friction coefficient and hardness of the coatings were examined. The results of examination of the cutting properties of the NCD (c-BN)/Al2O3/Al2O3+14vol.%Mo tool plates in cutting the PA16 aluminium alloy are presented as the wear VBmax versus cutting path L. The results evidently show that, when tested in cutting hard aluminium alloys, the carbon and boron nitride coatings deposited on the Al2O3/Al2O3+14vol.%Mo cutting plates by PACVD have good cutting properties. The service life of the coated plates compared to that of uncoated plates increased by 65% with the NCD coatings and by 40% with c-BN coatings. Key words: nanocrystalline carbon, cubic boron nitride, superhard materials