Characterization of large area filtered are deposition technology: part II- coating properties and applications

A dual-filtered cathodic are deposition process was used to synthesize a va riety of hard coatings on polished substrates, using large-area filtered-ar e deposition (W;AD) technology. The surface morphology showed that the coat ings were free of macro defects or inclusions, and there was no degradation of the initial surface finish. Mechanical properties of the coatings depos ited were measured by a nanoindentation technique. A duplex (heat treatment + deposition) process was used to deposit a unique multilayer hard coating on H-13 steel core pins used in aluminum die-casting application. Extensiv e characterization of the coated pins showed that the coating improved the erosion/corrosion resistance, as well as thermal cracking resistance, of th e steel by nearly one order of magnitude over commercially used PVD coating s. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.