Corrosion and tribological studies of chromium nitride coated on steel with an interlayer of electroplated chromium

The electrochemical and tribological behavior of CrN coatings on steel are investigated. A single layer of chromium nitride coating is compared with a double layer of the coating (CrN/Cr/steel) in which the interlayer chromiu m was produced by electroplating with the aim of improving the corrosion an d tribological performance of the steel. The CrN coatings are deposited by using a reactive cathodic are plasma deposition technology in an industrial scale, while the interlayer of chromium produced by electroplating. The co ating assemblies have been compared in terms of hardness, wear and corrosio n resistance. The composition and structure of the chromium nitride have be en studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), using both theta /2 theta diffractio n mode and the glancing-incidence X-ray diffraction mode. The surface morph ology was examined by using SEM. The improvement in wear and corrosion resi stance after cathodic are plasma deposition with and without a hard chrome as an interlayer are discussed in considering the microstructure changes. ( C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.