Failure and adhesion characterization of tungsten-carbon single layers, multilayered and graded coatings

Hard multilayered and graded coatings based on a stacking arrangement of du ctile layers and hard layers appear to be promising wear- or erosion-resist ant coatings. To optimize the architecture of the protective coatings, the mechanical behaviour of the films has to be first investigated through basi c mechanical tests before being subjected to specific tests. This paper rep orts a qualitative and comparative study of the adhesion and failure mechan isms of tungsten-carbon single layers, multilayered and graded coatings by means of scratch tests. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.