DEPOSITION OF PVD COATINGS ON DIFFERENT GEOMETRIES AND LOCAL CHARACTERIZATION FOR RELIABLE PROPERTIES

Although the characteristics of PVD coatings in research and developme nt papers are very promising, in the field of tribology the industrial application of these coating types is restricted to special market se gments up to now: the deposition of hard coatings is state of the art on tools, whereas PVD coated machine components are quite rate. This i s caused by the coatings profile of properties, the various surroundin gs and the demands for application reliability. The last aspect is the main topic of this contribution. Reliability is especially important for machine component, because tools may fail after relative short lif e time compared to machine parts. Besides this tools and the correspon ding production equipment are designed for fast tool replacement in co ntrast to other machines, which should work without standstill and wit h a minimum of maintenance. Characteristics of coated systems must be guaranteed in practice - theory and laboratory experiments have to sho w what is possible. On the one hand reproduction of the deposition pro cess must be guaranteed to enter application fields with high demands for reliability. on the other hand characterization of coated systems must be standardized with admissible derivations for communication bet ween coaters and users. These aspects are important fur decisions conc erning the use of coating substrate systems in tribology besides the t opics of technical function. The present investigation shows main reas ons for deviations in results of PVD coatings.