Anisotropy effects onmicrostructure and properties in decomposed arc evaporated Ti1-xAlxN coatings during metal cutting

Anisotropy effects on the spinodal decomposition in cathodic arc evaporated cubic “phase c-Ti1−xAlxN coatingshave been studied with respect to composition, microstructure and hardness properties before and after a continuousturning operation. Coatings are simultaneously being exposed to both a high temperature and high pressureduring the metal cutting process. As evident from the current results, a high Al content coating, x = 0.66,when exposed to such extreme conditions decomposes into cubic c-AlN and c-TiN-rich domains. In this case,the evolving microstructure comprises interconnected spatially periodic, elongated and coherent cubic c-AlNand c-TiN-rich regions aligned along elastic compliant b100N crystal direction. A significantly different microstructurewith randomly oriented domains is observed for a coating with an elemental composition closer tothe isotropic limit, x = 0.28, exposed under the same conditions. From a coating hardness perspective, thenanoindentation results display a minor age hardening effect for the c-Ti1−xAlxN coating grown at x = 0.28while the coating grown with x = 0.66 exhibits a significant age-hardening effect of about 18%. We concludethat both microstructure and age hardening behavior during spinodal decomposition of c-Ti1−xAlxN correlateto the relative amount ofmetal Ti/Al ratio and consequently to the elastic anisotropy of the as-grown coatingmaterial.These results provide newinsights to the understanding of improvedwear resistance of c-Ti1−xAlxN withAl content during metal cutting