Porada O. Influence of the deposition conditions of Si-C-N, Ti-N-C coatings on their structure formation and properties

High quality wear-resistant thin coatings based on refractory SiC and TiN compounds were deposited with the help of a developed plasma-chemical installation using methyltrichlorosilane and titanium tetrachloride produced in Ukraine. An effect of deposition parameters on elemental and phase compositions, microstructure, adhesion, mechanical and tribological properties was investigated. The formation of the nanostructured SiC coatings, deposited from metgyltrichlorosilane on silicon substrates at deposition temperatures > 350 °С that exhibited the best mechanical properties (nanohardness and elastic modulus were ~ 21 GPa, and 200 GPa, respectively), was established for the first time. An introduction of nitrogen promotes a densification of the coatings and an increase in the number of Si-C bonds, which gives rise to improving the tribological and mechanical characteristics of SiCN coatings. A formation of the soft intrinsic Ti layer in a multilayer TiN - Ti - TiN ( O ) coating causes an increase of its wear resistance. The plasma-chemical wear-resistant TiNC-SiCN nanocomposite coatings were obtained from titanium tetrachloride and methyltrichlorosilane for the first time. An increase in nanohardness and elastic modulus of these coatings in comparison with those of SiC and TiN coatings is related to a formation of the complex structure of the nanocomopsite coatings that represents the TiNC, TiSi2 та TiCl2 nanocrystallites embedded in the amorphous SiCN matrix. The cutting inserts of T15K6 hard alloy with a nanocomposite coating were tested under enterprise conditions at the Co Ltd "Eurostyle" production basis. The increase of wear resistance of the coated cutting inserts 2-2.4 times by treating steel 45 and 1.5-2 times by treating steel 12X18H9T was established.