Characterisation and wear behaviour of TiN- and TiCxN1-x-coated cermets

Commercial cermet inserts were coated with titanium nitride and titanium carbonitride by plasma-assisted chemical vapour deposition at deposition temperatures from 500 to 700°C using a pulsed d.c. glow discharge in a hot-wall reactor. The influences of coating temperature, layer composition, structure and layer thickness on the strength of the coated materials as well as microhardness, adhesive strength and wear behaviour of the layers are investigated. The performance of the coated cermets is compared with the uncoated substrate, other commercial coated and uncoated cermet grades and coated hardmetals in continuous turning of carbon steel C60N and grey cast iron GGL25 at different cutting conditions.