Wear resistant hard coating for a workpiece and method for producing the same

(54) Title: PIECE TO BE WORKED AND ITS MANUFACTURING PROCESSES (51) Int.CI .: C23C 4/12; C23C 28/04; C23C 30/00; B23B 27/00; C23C 14/34 (30) Unionist Priority: 10/05/2007 US 11 / 747,128, 23/03/2007 US 11 / 690,270 (73) Owner (s): OERLIKON TRADING AG, TRÜBBACH (72) Inventor (s): MARKUS LECHTHALER; ANDREAS REITER (85) National Phase Start Date: 09/23/2009

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Descriptive Report of the Invention Patent for PART TO BE WORKED AND ITS MANUFACTURING PROCESSES. Background of the Invention [001] The present invention relates to a hard, wear-resistant coating designed to work with difficult-to-machine materials such as, for example, hardened tool steels, stainless steels and titanium alloys. Such an application of extreme machining conditions requires a coating that has excellent wear resistance, resistance to hot hardness and resistance to oxidation combined with high toughness and good adhesion.

[002] The present invention also relates to the process of manufacturing such a wear-resistant coating, that is, a defined evaporation process with PVD arc.

[003] It also refers to a workpiece coated, especially a tool that has a body made of cemented carbide, cermet (ceramic + metal), cubic boron nitride (CBN) or steel for high speed.

Discussion of Related Art [004] AlTiN is a PVD coating highly used for machining hardened steel. However, AlTiN if used as a single layer or multilayer consisting of sublayers of different Ti / Al / N stoichiometries can be used up to 900 ° C maximum for machining applications due to the incipient decline in hardness at higher temperatures. than 800 to 850 ° C depending on the Aluminum / Titanium ratio.

[005] Therefore, US 2005-0003239 applies AlCrN coatings to workpieces to increase their resistance to oxidation. This coating is known to have good oxidation resistance and hot hardness up to 1100 ° C depending on the proportion of

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Aluminum / Titanium. Such coatings help to improve milling performance for many shaping applications, however they do not significantly improve shaping performance for the most difficult to machine materials such as hardened tool steels, high speed steels, titanium and nickel alloys and steels austenitic. Similar to that, the patent application also to WO2006 / 005217, WO-2006/084404 and US 2006-0222893 try to further optimize the resistance to oxidation and / or the (hot) hardness of coatings by using different multilayers and / or introduction of other elements in the AlCrN matrix.

[006] Another coating has been declared to constitute a progress with cutting hardened steels is described by EP 1690959. The coating comprises a two layer system based on (TiAlSi) N of stoichiometry other than Al and Si.

[007] US 2006-0269789 describes a hard multilayer for cutting a material of great hardness at a high speed. The multilayer comprises a first coating layer based on TiAlCrNX (X = C or O), a second coating layer being a mixture of TiAlCrNX and TiAl (SiC) NX or a multilayer of such alternative layers and a third layer of coating more that consists essentially of TiAl (SiC) NX.

[008] Despite some progress that could be achieved with such coating systems in terms of wear and oxidation resistance, there still seems to be a need to further improve the performance of coated cutting tools as there still seems to be a need to improve further the performance of coated cutting tools as mentioned difficult to machine materials.

Summary of the Invention [009] Therefore an object of the present invention is to provide a

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3/27 optimized hard coating and a work piece, especially a hard coated cutting tool to increase shaping performance with difficulty when machining materials such as high speed steels, titanium alloys, nickel alloys, austenitic steels and especially hard materials such as hardened tool steel that has a hardness higher than 50, preferably higher than 55 HRC. Another objective of the invention is to provide such coatings without losing the excellent oxidation and hot hardness properties of AlCrN. These objectives can be achieved by either of the first two aspects of the invention as described below and in claims 1 and 2. A third object of the invention is to provide an improved cutting tool according to claim 12 used to manufacture parts for mechanical assemblies such as molds and dies and other cutting tools such as blades as well as a process for cutting to perform such operations according to claim 16. An application focus is to improve the cutting performance in milling operations with reference to cost reduction, optimization of production sequences and an improved roughness of the workpiece surface as for example.

[0010] A fourth objective of the invention is to provide a PVD process for producing coatings of the invention and tools according to claim 13.

[0011] Surprisingly, the first and second objectives of the invention can be solved by a workpiece that has a surface while at least parts of said surface are coated with a hard wear resistant multilayer coating deposited by a PVD process and the hard coating comprises at least a first support layer and a second layer containing nano crystalline silicon with the first specification 870180047132, from 06/01/2018, p. 9/41

4/27 layer interposed between the workpiece and the second layer, which is a first aspect of the present invention.

[0012] The first layer comprises a coating material with the following composition (Ti_TheAl1-_The) N1-x-yCxOy, while 0.4 <to <0.6 and 0 <x and y <0.3. Alternatively, the first layer may comprise (AlbCr1-b) N1-x-yCxOy, while 0.5 <b <0.7 and 0 <x and y <0.3.

[0013] The second layer comprises a coating material with the following composition (Ah-cd-eCrcSidMe) N1-x-yCxOy, while M represents at least one group 4 transition metal element (Ti, Zr, Hf ), 5 (V, Cb [Nb], Ta), 6 (Cr, Mo, W) from the periodic table except chromium and 0.2 <c <0.35, 0 <d <0.20, 0 <and < 0.04. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the second layer comprises a coating material with the following composition (Al1-cd-eCrcSidMV) N1-x-yCxOy, while M 'represents W, Mo, Ta or Cb [Nb] and 0.06 <d '<0.15, especially with 0.10 <d' <0.11. (Niobium or Colúmbio refers to element 41 of the periodic table, internationally more succinctly Nb, sometimes also Cb) [0014] Other aspects of the invention are directed to the crystalline structure of the second layer, which preferably comprises two different phases, especially a cubic centered face (fcc) and a hexagonal closed compacted phase (hcp). In this way the XRD signal of the hcp phase can be made more prone if subjected to heat treatment or high working temperatures of at least 700 ° C or 750 ° C. The hcp phase can be enriched with Al and the percentage of the hexagonal phase as deposited it should be between 5 and 40% by volume, preferably between 10 and 30% by volume.

[0015] Other aspects of the invention are addressed to the proportion of

Al / Cr within the nano crystalline layer, in proportion to the thickness of the first and second layers and to the total thickness of the coating,

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5/27 textures and the chain structure as well as a multilayer of alternative first and second layers. As, for example, the performance of coated cutting tools appears to be especially good when the ratio of Al / Cr as expressed by the quotient QAl / Cr = (1-cde) / c is within the following range: 1.5 <QAl / Cr <2.4. [0016] In another embodiment a thickness D1 of the first coating is less than a thickness D2 of the second coating, for example, the quotient Qd = D2 / D1 is within the following range: 1 <Qd <4, while the thickness total D of coating D of the coatings of the invention is within the following range: 1 pm <D <10 pm and preferably 2 pm <D <6 pm.

[0017] Another aspect of the invention concerns the hardness and Young's modulus of the defined layers of the coating system. A greater hardness of the nano-crystalline layer compared to the support layer proved to be advantageous. As, for example, the first layer preferably has a hardness between 2,400 and 2,800 HV, while the second layer will have a hardness between 2,800 and 3,200 HV measured by a Vickers microindentation at a load of 40 mN. Young's hardness and modulus - the latter influencing the stiffness of a coating system to a great extent - can be adjusted, for example, by controlling certain process parameters especially in relation to the substrate and process pressure or pressure of the reaction gas as known to the person skilled in the art from US 6 071 560 and US 6 274 249 and other documents.

[0018] However, for the present invention it has been proven to advantageously use a deposition process comprising the step of applying a lower first substrate voltage U1 during the deposition of the first coating and applying a higher second substrate voltage U2 during the deposition of the second coating. While the voltage of the first substrate is in the range of 0 V <

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Ui <100 V and the voltage of the second substrate is in the range of 80 V <U2 <200 V, while U2 - U1> 20 V. In addition or alternatively, a higher process pressure can be used during the deposition of the first coating to reduce the intrinsic stress of the layer and thus the hardness of the first layer. Heating the parts to be worked to temperatures higher than 550 ° C, especially up to around 600 ° C and maintaining them at this temperature level during the deposition process seemed to provide another beneficial influence on adhesion coating and tool performance.

[0019] Another possibility to influence the properties of the layer as mentioned is to vary the content of certain additional elements to vary the Al / Cr ratio as mentioned above or with the following examples. The hardness of the second layer based on AlCrN bound to nano crystalline can be further advanced by adjusting the silicon content to provide an optimum condition in grain refinement that results in maximum hardness. In addition, a contribution solution is obtained as mentioned transition metals, especially W, Mo, Cb and Ta, which additionally serve as a diffusion barrier such as, for example, in the grain boundary phase of the hard coating. In total, it has been proven that such layers based on AlCrN nano crystalline alloy are extremely resistant to high temperatures and oxidation and, therefore, being highly effective in protecting the backing layer and substrate from oxidation. The best performance with cutting operations could be achieved with a texture coefficient Q1 = I (200) / I (111) in the range of 0.7 <Q1 <2 (Q1 is defined as the ratio of the diffraction intensities 1 ( 200) to 1 (111), assigned respectively to the planes (200) and (111) in the X-ray diffraction spectrum of a material). This corresponds to balanced growth over the plans (200) and

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7/27 (111). Details regarding the measurement can be seen in figure 1.

[0020] Contrary to the second layer, the support layer has a column growth structure and greater elasticity through a greater Young's modulus. This proved to be the best combination to transfer the mechanical load from the extremely wear-resistant second layer and the high temperature to the substrate material of the workpiece.

[0021] Alternatively to layer two established as described above, another layer system can be used to further improve the performance of the layer for special applications. As an example, a thin metallic adhesion layer can be used to provide an optimized interface between the substrate and the first support layer. This adhesion layer may comprise Ti, Cr, TiAl or AlCr and may have a transition zone with an increasing content of N, C and / or O in relation to the first layer as known to the person skilled in the art.

[0022] Another possibility or additional is to make the first layer comprise a multilayer of alternative layers of (Ti_TheAl1-_The) N1-x-yCxOy and (Al1-cd-eCrcSidMe) N1-xy CxOy or alternate layers of (AlbCr1-b) N1-x-yCxOy and (Ah-cde CrcSidMe) N1-x-yCxOy. The layers of this stack will have a preferred layer thickness from one observation nanometer up to about 100 nanometers up to the maximum that can be varied within the stacked layer as needed.

[0023] The body of the workpiece or the substrate material will preferably be selected from at least one of the following materials such as high-speed steel, cemented carbide, cubic boron nitride, cermet or a ceramic material. Such workpieces can be used for many types of tools, however 870180047132, from 01/06/2018, p. 13/41

8/27 to, will be especially useful for cutting tools, such as table milling machines, drills, knife tools or gear cutting tools such as helical cutters. When applied to tools made of cemented carbide, cubic boron nitride, cermet or a ceramic material, these coatings have a good potential to improve the cutting performance with cutting processes on hard materials - such as hardened steel - that have a Rockwell hardness of HRC 50 and higher or even HRC 55 and higher as will be demonstrated in detail with the examples below.

Brief Description of the Illustrations [0024] The following figures and examples are intended to explain the present invention by means of some specific modalities with which it is not intended to restrict the scope of the claims in any way. Reference is being made to the attached illustrations, as Figure 1 shows XRD spectra of TiAlN / AlCrN and TiAlN / AlCrSiWN hard coatings;

figure 2 shows an XRD spectrum adapted from a hard coating of TiAlN / AlCrN and TiAlN / AlCrSiWN;

Figure 3 is a SEM cross section of a TiAlN / AlCrN and TiAlN / AlCrSiWN hard coating;

Figure 4 shows XRD spectra of TiAlN / AlCrSiWN hard coatings with hexagonal phase;

figure 5 is a diagram of peak intensity; figure 6 shows XRD spectra of TiAlN / AlCrSiWN in a cutting tool before and after use;

Figure 1 shows XRD patterns of one TiAlN / AlCrN and three coatings of TiAlN / AlCrSiWN of variable Al / Cr ratio.

The coverings were deposited on a piece introduced coPetition 870180047132, from 06/01/2018, p. 14/41

9/27 mainly cemented carbide that has a cobalt binder phase and corresponds to the No.^s 1.6, 2.4, 2.5 and 2.6 of examples 1 and 2. The coating parameters were the same for all coatings except the target material used to deposit the second layer. Details on the target composition as well as the characteristics of the coatings can be seen with tables 1 and 2.

[0025] All XRD spectra were recorded with Bruker AXS equipment with a Cu Ka source (λ = 1.5406 nm) using a Bragg-Brentano geometry at a 2 ° observation incidence to minimize disturbance signals diffraction that come from the support layer and the substrate.

[0026] Two important facts can be deduced from the spectra:

- The use of AlCr targets linked with W and Si causes a decrease in the peak heights of the diffraction patterns of the coatings combined with an enlargement of the peak signal. This can be attributed to a grain refining effect due to the alloying elements, especially silicon. Due to this AlCrSiWN the second layers are deposited with a nano crystalline structure, as can also be seen with the cross section of the SEM images in figure 3b.

- Compared to coating systems that have a second layer of unbound AlCrN that has a transparent orientation (111), systems with a second layer that is bonded do not have or show only a weak preference in the orientation of the crystal. Therefore, a Q1 term that is defined as the proportion of the diffraction intensities 1 (200) to 1 (111), attributed respectively to the planes (200) and (111) in the X-ray diffraction spectrum of a material, is in the region of 1, preferably between 0.7 and 2, if measured by observation incidence as mentioned above.

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10/27 [0027] More detailed information on the structure of the coating can be deduced from the XRD standards if a peak adaptation is applied according to the Lorentian method as can be seen in figure 2. The adaptation was applied to the signals (200 ) close to 44.5 ° on the 2 Θ scale from the spectra referring to coatings N ° 1.6 and N ° 1.9. Of this magnification can be assessed quantitatively by measuring the Full Peak Width at Half Maximum (FWHM). Excluding the influence of the constant base of the apparatus, the following values ​​were obtained from the apparatus, which show a marked increase in peak width with a second layer of AlCrSiWN:

TiAlN / AlCrSiWN: FWHM (200) = 1.7 °

TiAlN / AlCrN: FWHM (200) = 1 ° [0028] The formation of alloy of AlCrN coatings with Si and W leads to a peak displacement of 43.8 ° towards a smaller 2-theta angle of 43.4 °, which the authors attribute to an enlargement of the network plane due to the larger size of the tungsten atoms. Thus, the network parameter ranges from d (200) = 2,064 nm for AlCrN to d (200) = 2,082 nm for AlCrSiWN.

[0029] SEM images of the two cross sections of the coating with an increase of 100,000 diameters can be seen with figures 3a and 3b. SEM images were recorded at an acceleration voltage of 5 kV.

[0030] The photos show coatings in two double layers, each having a support layer grown in column (Tío, 5AI0.5) N of approximately 1 pm thick and a thicker top layer. Thus, figure 3a shows a top layer of AlCrN that already has a thinner layer than the first comparatively thick and column-shaped layer. However, the structure of the second layer of (Al.57Cr.31Si.10W.02) N in the figure

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3b shows a significantly thinner nano-crystalline structure compared to figure 3a which corresponds to the peak magnification as seen with the XRD spectra of figures 1 and 2.

[0031] In figure 4 the XRD spectra of TiAlN / AlCrSiWN hard coatings in figure 1 are presented in a higher resolution mode with the numbers of 2J indicated by arrows where hexagonal phase peaks should appear. It can be clearly recognized that with reference to the hexagonal peaks, they become increasingly accentuated with the increase in the aluminum content of the AlCrSiWN coating, which combines with the good cutting performance of the No. 1.6, 2.4, 2.5 coatings.

[0032] Figure 5 is a diagram of the peak intensity as analyzed by TEM-SAED (Transmission Electron Microscopy - Selected Area Electron Diffraction) to provide a more detailed representation of the cubic patterns and hexagonals of a TiAlN / (Alo, 62Cr0.26Si0, wW0.02) N coating. The stoichiometric numbers of the compounds refer to the target composition.

[0033] Figure 6 shows an XRD spectrum of a TiAlN / (Ab, 57Cr0.31Si0, wW0.02) N coating as deposited after the PVD process (A) and as used according to a milling process high-speed side (B) with bright red shares as described in detail with example 8. See details of target composition, thickness ratio and performance in the table. The spectrum (B) that was obtained after approximately 40 m of milling surprisingly shows larger signals distinct from hexagonal XRD. A similar increase in the percentage of hexagonal phase could be observed by quenching such coatings to at least 750 ° C. The minimum percentage of Al to observe such temperature-driven phase transitions was between 49 and 57

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12/27%, depending on the matrix of other elements, which can be easily determined by the person skilled in the art when the case arises. From 750 ° to 800 ° C onwards the hexagonal phase appears to cease with increasing temperature to at least 1100 ° C. Within the temperature range of 600 ° C, which can be deposited by the PVD process, up to around 1100 ° C, a precipitation hardening network consisting of a high AlN hcp phase that increments cubic phase crystallites be detected in STEM analysis of the cross section. The size of the crystallites at 750 ° C was between 5 and 200 nm. As most cutting tests, such coatings were superior to coatings that do not show phase transition and a target composition with a higher content of Al as 57% seemed to perform better. It is more surprising how until now alumina coatings that have a stable corundum phase over the entire temperature range from room temperature to any temperature that can be reached by the action of high-speed tools have seemed to have an invincible benefit when going up to a load extremely high temperature of the coating. For (AlCrSiW) N coatings, however, the phase transition appears to have a beneficial effect which could be the consequence of a continuous proliferation of high temperature stable aluminum nitride phase during cutting processes. The 33.2 ° peak positions as seen in figure 6 (B) seem to fit perfectly with the hexagonal compacted hcp-AlN hcp 100 peak from the JCPDS XRD data collection. Other AlN peaks, which could be unambiguously recognized, are at 36.1 ° (refers to signal 002), 49.2 ° (102), 59.4 ° (110) and 101.6 ° (211). In any case so far, only presumptions can be made about the reasons for such temperature-induced phase transition behavior. Detailed investigations are yet to be done. When the percentage of Al exceeds approximately

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13/27%, the hcp-AIN phase remains the main phase and this phase transition can no longer be observed.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Mode [0034] The following describes some of the specific modalities of the invention by way of examples, comparing the cutting performance of the tools of the invention to the tools of the prior art using different cutting operations and cutting parameters.

[0035] All hard coatings and comparative examples of the invention were deposited using the Oerlikon Balzers RCS® coating system, in the arc evaporation configuration. The cutting tools were mounted on accessories that rotate three times during the deposition of PVD. The hard coatings deposited on the cutting tools as described in the examples below had a total thickness between 2 and 6 pm measured at the bottom of the cutting tool. The new coatings were compared to the state of the art coatings obtained by standardized coating processes obtained by Oerlikon Balzers for TiAlN the so-called FUTURA NANO, AlTiN the so-called XCEED and AlCrN the so-called ALCRONA.

Example 1 [0036] As example 1 the cutting performance of end mills coated with state of the art coatings such as TiAlN, AlTiN, AlCrN and (AlCrSiW) N was compared to a series of coated end mills of the invention in a double layer of TiAlN or AlCrN / (Al1-cd-eCrcSidWe) N.

[0037] All coatings were synthesized by evaporation of the cathodic arc. The deposition of N ° 1 .4 to N ° 1.10 coatings was carried out at a deposition temperature of 600 ° C and a total pressure of 3.5 Pa under a nitrogen atmosphere. For the first layer

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14/27 support a low directed voltage was preferably applied between -40 V and -100 V while for the second layer a higher directed voltage from - 80 V to - 200 V was used, while the absolute value of the directed voltage of the second layer was at least 20 V, preferably 40 V higher than the directed voltage of the first layer. The deposition of coatings No. 1.1 to No. 1.3 was conducted at a deposition temperature of 500 ° C and a total pressure of 3.0 to 4.0 Pa under the nitrogen atmosphere.

Workpiece: Cutting tool:

[0038] The data with reference to the composition of the respective evaporation materials (targets), the Al / Cr ratio within the second coating nano crystalline layer (ml) of the coating, the ratio of the thickness Qd of the layers (ml / sL) and the resulting cutting performance expressed by lateral wear on a micrometer after a cutting length of 90 m has been achieved and the accumulated tool life in meters when a 100 pm wear mark has been reached are summarized in table 1.

Milling conditions:

DIN 1.2379 (60HRC) ball point table cutter with 2 holes, 0 10 mm, microgrid carbide grade

8000 min-1 200 mmin-1 0.1 mm / tooth 0.5 mm 0.3 mm compressed dry air

Milling operation: milling length in the same single pass direction: 30 m

Shaft rotation:

Cutting speed:

Feed rate:

Radial cutting depth Axial cutting depth: Cooling agent:

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End of entire life: Vbmax> 100 pm at the end of a single pass [0039] With table 1 the performance of the comparative examples

1.3 to 1.6 is weak compared to the tools of the invention coated with a double layer structure. Despite a marked improvement of the simple AlCrSiWN layer coatings of examples 1.4 to 1.5 when compared to the non-alloy AlCrN coating of example 1.3 or the TiAlN / AlCrN double layer of example 1.6, these coatings cannot be compared to performance of the examples of the invention 1.7 to 1.8. However, the ratio of the thickness Qd of the double layers of the invention appears to be an important aspect as shown with the poor performance of example 1.10 for coatings with a thin layer containing silicon.

Example 2 [0040] With example 2 the same deposition parameters were applied as with example 1.

[0041] With experiments 2.1 to 2.3 the Si content of the second coating is varied at a constant Al / Cr ratio, with experiments 2.4 to 2.6 Al / Cr ratio is varied at a constant Si content. Only small variations of tungsten - around 2 ± 0.3% to the maximum - were measured for all experiments in example 2, as shown in table 2.

Milling conditions:

Workpiece: Cutting tool:

Shaft rotation: Cutting speed:

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DIN 1.2379 (60 HRC) ball point table cutter with 2 holes, 0 10 mm, microgrid carbide grade

8000 min-1

200 mmin-l

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Feed rate: Radial cutting depth: Axial cutting depth: Cooling agent: Milling operation:

Single pass length: 30 m

0.1 mm / tooth

0.5 mm

0.3 mm compressed dry air milling in the same direction

End of life:

max

Vbmax> 100 pm at the end of a single pass [0042] In table 2, at a constant Si content (N ° 2.4-2.6) the hardness measurements show a decrease in the hardness with an increase in the Al / Cr - content second coating. The constant Al / Cr ratio can be observed a maximum of hardness and cutting performance at a Si content around 10%. In addition, it can be clearly seen that the Si content needs to be at least higher than 5.3% to obtain good cutting performance.

[0043] The parameters and configuration as used for XRD analysis to define the values ​​of Q1 as mentioned above have been described in detail with figure 1. Since the peak of (111) used to define the quotient is located at a 2-θ angle of approximately 37.5 ° and the reference peak (200) is around 43.7 °. Preferably the value of Q = I (200) / 1 (111), measured at an observation incidence of 2 °, is found in the region of 1, especially between 0.7 and 2.

Example 3 [0044] The innovative coating milling capability No. 3.4 was compared to the prior art coatings No. 3.1-3.3 during a roughing operation according to the parameters mentioned below. With example 3 the same reference deposition parameters were applied as mentioned with example 1.

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Milling conditions:

Work piece:

Snipping tool:

Shaft rotation:

Cutting speed:

Feed rate:

Radial cutting depth: Axial cutting depth: Cooling agent:

Milling operation: Length of single pass: End of life:

DIN 1.2344 (52HRC) ball point table cutter with 2 holes, 0 10 mm, micrograde carbide grade 4690 min^-1 mmin^-1

0.15 mm / tooth mm

0.8 mm dry compressed air

Milling in the same direction

15.5 m

Vbmax> 150 pm at the end of a single pass

Table 3

<td>N ° Reves-</td><td>Surface layer</td><td>Main composition layer</td><td>Proportion</td><td>Performance</td>

<td>ment</td><td>target composition size sl (% at)</td><td>target ml (% at)</td><td>of the thickness</td><td>cutting</td>

<td></td><td>Al Cr Ti</td><td>Al Cr Ti Si W</td><td>ml / sl</td><td>Lifetime at vb = 200 pm (m)</td>

<td> 3.1</td><td>TiAIN -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> 50</td><td> -</td><td> 50</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> 93</td>

<td> 3.2</td><td>AITiN -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> 66</td><td> -</td><td> 33</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> 162</td>

<td> 3.3</td><td>AICrN -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> 70</td><td> 30</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> 181,5</td>

<td> 3.4</td><td>Ti- 50 AIN / AIC rSiWN</td><td> -</td><td> 50</td><td> 57</td><td> 31</td><td> -</td><td> 10</td><td> 2</td><td> 1,84</td><td> 264</td>

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Work piece Cutting tool:

Example 4 [0045] The same new coating as used in No. 3.4 was used in No. 4.4 to compare performance to coatings 4.1 to 4.3 of the state of the art during an annealing tool steel finish that has a hardness of 36 HRC. Milling conditions:

DIN 1.2344 (36HRC) end mill with 3 grooves, 0 8 mm, micrograde carbide grade

4777 min-1 120 mmin-1

Shaft rotation:

Cutting speed:

Feed rate: Radial cutting depth Axial cutting depth: Cooling agent: Milling direction:

0.05 mm / tooth 0.5 mm 0.10 mm compressed dry air milling in the same direction Single pass length: 5 m

End of life: Vbmax&gt; 100 pm at the end of a single pass

Table 4

<td rowspan="3">No.</td><td rowspan="3">Coated ment</td><td rowspan="3">Target composition support layer ls (% at) Al Cr Ti</td><td colspan="3">Main composition layer</td><td rowspan="3">Thickness ratio ml / sl</td><td rowspan="3">Cutting performance Lifetime at vb = 150 pm (m)</td>

<td rowspan="2">Al</td><td colspan="2">target ml (% at)</td>

<td>Cr</td><td>Ti Si W</td>

<td> 4.1</td><td>TiAlN</td><td> - - -</td><td> 50</td><td> -</td><td> 50 - -</td><td> -</td><td> 25</td>

<td> 4.2</td><td>AlTiN</td><td> - - -</td><td> 66</td><td> -</td><td> 33 - -</td><td> -</td><td> 30</td>

<td> 4.3</td><td>AlCrN</td><td></td><td> 70</td><td> 30</td><td></td><td></td><td> 65</td>

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4.4 Ti- 50 - 50 57 31 - 10 2 1.84 80

AIN / AICrSi

WN [0046] The significant improvement in performance compared to state of the art coatings proves the potential of new coatings with machining of softer steels.

Example 5 [0047] With example 5 before cutting, a brushing treatment was applied using a brushing machine according to DE 20 2006 000 654 1 to the coatings to adjust to a state comparable to an initial homogeneous wear, which guarantees thereafter homogeneous wear progress during the application of cutting.

[0048] The treatment of the coated tool was carried out with rotating brushes according to DEGM 20 2006 000 645.1 figure2 and citing the description in the last paragraph on page 5 until the end of the paragraph on page 6 which is thus included as a reference to this application for patent. The brush angle was around 30 ° with reference to the tool axis, rotation speed 650 revolutions / minute. The brushing material was Nylon impregnated with SiC, grain size of SiC 400 mesh, bristle diameter 0.45 mm, bristle length 35 mm. The rotation of the tool's satellite was 9 revolutions / minute, the rotation of the table that supports the satellites was approximately 0.3 revolution / minute. A similar effect for analyzing a strip of a few micrometers of the workpiece material to be worked along the cutting edge could be achieved by using brushes impregnated with ALO3. In this case, however, the brushing time needs to be tripled if the same parameters should be used as mentioned above (for example, the rotation of the support table is set to 0.1 revolution / minute).

[0049] The coatings were deposited according to the parameters with N ° 1.2 and N ° 1.8.

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Milling conditions Cutting tool:

Work piece: Shaft rotation speed: Axial cutting depth: Radial cutting depth: Feed rate: Cutting speed: Feed:

Cooling agent: Milling operation:

Length of single pass: End of lifetime:

2-hole ball point table cutter, ball radius 5 mm, microgrid carbide grade

1.2379 62 HRC

6000 revolutions / minute

0.4 mm

0.05 mm

0.10 mm / tooth

184 m / min

600 mm / min air milling technique in the same direction for bags (56 mm x 26 mm)

handbag

Vbmax&gt; 100 pm at the end of a pocket [0050] The milling data from table 5 shows that brushing treatment with such cutting operations is extremely useful for tools coated with new multilayer coatings (5.3 and 5.4), whereas for tools coated with AlTiN, even a slight decrease in performance is found when such treatment was applied.

[0051] Alternatively or even additionally, a similar finishing treatment can be applied by brush, jet, polishing or similar operations before the coating process. Example 6 [0052] A series of samples has been prepared to test the influencePetition 870180047132, from 06/01/2018, p. 26/41

21/27 tungsten as a single alloying element. The coatings were deposited according to parameters with N °

1.2 and No. 1.8.

Milling conditions:

<td>Snipping tool:</td><td>ball end table cutter with 2 holes, 0 10 mm, degree of microgrid carbide</td>

<td>Work piece:</td><td>1.2379 (62 HRC)</td>

<td>Shaft rotation:</td><td>8000 min-1</td>

<td>Cutting speed:</td><td>200 mmin-1</td>

<td>Feed rate:</td><td>0.1 mm / tooth</td>

<td>Radial cutting depth:</td><td>0.5 mm</td>

<td>Axial cutting depth:</td><td>0.3 mm</td>

<td>Cooling agent:</td><td>compressed dry air</td>

<td>Milling operation:</td><td>milling in the same direction</td>

<td>Single pass length:</td><td>30 m</td>

<td>End of life:</td><td>Vbmax&gt; 100 pm at the end of a</td>

<td></td><td>single pass</td>

<td>Table 6</td><td></td>

<td>No.</td><td>Coated ment</td><td>Target composition support layer sl (% at)</td><td>Main layer of target composition ml (% at)</td><td>Proportion of thickness frog</td><td>Cutting performance</td>

<td></td><td></td><td>Al Cr Ti</td><td>Al Cr Ti Si W</td><td>ml / sl</td><td>Lifetime a vb = 100 pm (m)</td>

<td> 6.1</td><td>You- AIN / AICrN</td><td colspan="2"> 50 -</td><td> 50</td><td> 70</td><td colspan="3"> 30 - - -</td><td> 2,30</td><td> 120</td>

<td> 6.2</td><td>You- AIN / AICrW N</td><td> 50</td><td> -</td><td> 50</td><td> 70</td><td> 28</td><td> -</td><td> - 2</td><td> 2,30</td><td> 150</td>

<td> 6.3</td><td>You-</td><td> 50</td><td> -</td><td> 50</td><td> 57</td><td> 31</td><td> -</td><td> 10 2</td><td> 2,30</td><td> 270</td>

AIN / AICrSi

WN [0053] Compared to N ° 6.1, N ° 6.2 has slightly improved milling performance. This can be attributed

Petition 870180047132, of 6/1/2018, p. 27/41

22/27 clearly to the addition of W to the second layer based on AlCrN. In comparison to the optimized coating, which has a different Al / Cr ratio and which additionally contains Si, there is still a gap. Example 7 [0054] With table 7, the hardness and Young's modulus of a layer of TiAlN corresponding to the backing layer and a double layer of the invention were measured. The measurement method was a Vickers micro hardness test at a load of 40 mN which results in a penetration depth of around 0.3 pm only. Therefore, no significant influence of the substrate material could be detected for the measurements. In comparison to the second coating, the support layer is characterized by a lower hardness value and a higher Young's modulus. [0055] From the examples in table 7 it is evident that the AlCrSiWN-coated tools of the invention show a surprising increase in performance with strong machining operations when compared to the state-of-the-art AlCrN coatings. Example 8 [0056] Table 8 shows the performance of one coat 8.1 of the state of the art and two coatings 8.2 and 8.3 of the invention that presents induced thermal phase transition as described in detail with figure 6. However, with the coating of target composition 8.2 the evidence of the hcp phase as deposited was difficult to observe. Only after 40 m of cutting could a clear signal be detected but definitely less than in figure 6 (B) with the 8.3 coating.

Cutting tool: 6-hole square end mill, microgrid carbide grade

Work piece:

DIN 1.2379 (60HRC)

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Shaft rotation speed: Axial cutting depth ae: Radial cutting depth ap: Feed rate fz: Cutting speed vc:

Cooling agent: Milling operation: Single pass length

7958 1 / min 8 mm 0.1 mm

0.042 mm / tooth 200 m / min compressed air side milling 10 m

End of life: Vbmax&gt; 150 pm

<td>No.</td><td>Coating</td><td colspan="3">Target composition support layer ls (% at)</td><td colspan="5">Main layer of target composition ml (% at)</td><td>Thickness ratio</td><td>Cutting performance</td>

<td></td><td></td><td>Al</td><td>Cr</td><td>You</td><td>Al</td><td>Cr</td><td>You</td><td>Si</td><td>W</td><td>ml / sl</td><td>Lifetime at vb = 150 pm (m)</td>

<td> 8.1</td><td>TiAIN</td><td> 50</td><td> -</td><td> 50</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> 40</td>

<td> 8.2</td><td>TiAIN / AICrWN</td><td> 50</td><td> -</td><td> 50</td><td> 53</td><td> 35</td><td> -</td><td> 10</td><td> 2</td><td> 2,20</td><td> 50</td>

<td> 8.3</td><td>TiAIN / AICrSiWN</td><td> 50</td><td> -</td><td> 50</td><td> 57</td><td> 31</td><td> -</td><td> 10</td><td> 2</td><td> 2,30</td><td> 75</td>

[0057] Despite the focus on the applications of hard tools within the present specification and the examples above, those skilled in the art will know that such coatings can also be advantageously applied to other tools and tool applications such as forming operations such as stamping and forging or hot injection operations such as die casting or die molding, as well as for engineering components especially for components that have a need for high wear resistance and high hot hardness. Examples for such engineering applications could be parts of combustion engines, especially parts of the powertrain such as eccentric and platinum, parts for fuel injection systems such as injection needles and valve bases, piston rings and pins, bearings for high temperature and the like.

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Table 1

<td rowspan="3">No.</td><td rowspan="3">Coating</td><td colspan="3">Target composition support layer ls</td><td colspan="5" rowspan="2">Main layer of target composition ml (% at)</td><td rowspan="3">Atomic proportion ml Al / Cr</td><td rowspan="3">Thickness ratio ml / sl</td><td colspan="2" rowspan="2">Cutting performance</td>

<td rowspan="2">Al</td><td rowspan="2">(% at) Cr</td><td rowspan="2">You</td>

<td>Al</td><td>Cr</td><td>You</td><td>Si</td><td>W</td><td>Lateral wear after 90 pm (m)</td><td>Lifetime at vb = 100 pm (m)</td>

<td> 1.1</td><td>TiAIN</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> 50</td><td> -</td><td> 50</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> 80</td><td> 120</td>

<td> 1.2</td><td>AITiN</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> 66</td><td> -</td><td> 33</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> 80</td><td> 150</td>

<td> 1.3</td><td>AICrN</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> 70</td><td> 30</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> 2,33</td><td> -</td><td> 120</td><td> 90</td>

<td> 1.4</td><td>AICrSiWN</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> 62</td><td> 26</td><td> -</td><td> 10</td><td> 2</td><td> 2,38</td><td> -</td><td> 70</td><td> 150</td>

<td> 1.5</td><td>AICrSiWN</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> 57</td><td> 31</td><td> -</td><td> 10</td><td> 2</td><td> 1,84</td><td> -</td><td> 60</td><td> 180</td>

<td> 1.6</td><td>TiAIN / AICrN</td><td> 50</td><td> -</td><td> 50</td><td> 70</td><td> 30</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> 2,33</td><td> 2,3</td><td> 80</td><td> 120</td>

<td> 1.7</td><td>AICrN / AICrSiWN</td><td> 70</td><td> -</td><td> 30</td><td> 62</td><td> 26</td><td> -</td><td> 10</td><td> 2</td><td> 2,38</td><td> 2,2</td><td> 40</td><td> 270</td>

<td> 1.8</td><td>TiAIN / AICrSiWN</td><td> 50</td><td> -</td><td> 50</td><td> 62</td><td> 26</td><td> -</td><td> 10</td><td> 2</td><td> 2,38</td><td> 2,2</td><td> 40</td><td> 270</td>

<td> 1.9</td><td>TiAIN / AICrSiWN</td><td> 50</td><td> -</td><td> 50</td><td> 57</td><td> 31</td><td> -</td><td> 10</td><td> 2</td><td> 1,84</td><td> 2,3</td><td> 50</td><td> 300</td>

<td> 1.10</td><td>TiAIN / AICrSiWN</td><td> 50</td><td> -</td><td> 50</td><td> 57</td><td> 31</td><td> -</td><td> 10</td><td> 2</td><td> 1,84</td><td> 0,5</td><td> 90</td><td> 120</td>

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Petition 870180047132, of 6/1/2018, p. 30/41

Table 2

<td>No.</td><td>Surface layer</td><td>Main layer</td><td>Atomic proportion of metals</td><td>Description</td>

<td></td><td>size of compo-</td><td>composition-</td><td>by EDX (Ti shows the influence</td><td></td>

<td></td><td>target location sl (% at)</td><td>ml target (% at)</td><td>support layer (% at)</td><td></td>

Cutting performance

XRD Hardness

<td>Wear</td><td>Time</td>

<td>side</td><td>of life</td>

<td>after</td><td>vbmax</td>

<td>120 pm</td><td> = 100</td>

<td>(m)</td><td>pm</td>

<td></td><td>You</td><td>THERE</td><td>THERE</td><td>Cr</td><td>Si</td><td>W</td><td>THERE</td><td>Cr</td><td>Si</td><td>You</td><td>W</td><td>AI / Cr</td><td>I200 / I111</td><td>HV</td><td colspan="3">M. de Young (GPa)</td>

<td colspan="18">Variation with Si content</td>

<td> 2.1</td><td> 50</td><td> 50</td><td> 60</td><td> 33</td><td> 5</td><td> 2</td><td> 53,5</td><td> 38,6</td><td> 5,3</td><td> 0,7</td><td> 1,9</td><td> 1,4</td><td> 0,7</td><td> 2840</td><td> 425</td><td> 110</td><td> 120</td>

<td> 2.2</td><td> 50</td><td> 50</td><td> 57</td><td> 31</td><td> 10</td><td> 2</td><td> 49,9</td><td> 36,7</td><td> 10,5</td><td> 1,0</td><td> 1,9</td><td> 1,4</td><td> 0,9</td><td> 2960</td><td> 385</td><td> 50</td><td> 300</td>

<td> 2.3</td><td> 50</td><td> 50</td><td> 54</td><td> 29</td><td> 15</td><td> 2</td><td> 48,0</td><td> 36,5</td><td> 12,4</td><td> 0,9</td><td> 2,3</td><td> 1,3</td><td> 1,8</td><td> 2930</td><td> 367</td><td> 75</td><td> 270</td>

<td colspan="18">Variation in the proportion of Al / Cr</td>

<td> 2.4</td><td> 50</td><td> 50</td><td> 62</td><td> 26</td><td> 10</td><td> 2</td><td> 56,7</td><td> 30,2</td><td> 10,4</td><td> 0,7</td><td> 2,1</td><td> 2,0</td><td> 0,7</td><td> 2830</td><td> 337</td><td> 60</td><td> 240</td>

<td> 2.5</td><td> 50</td><td> 50</td><td> 57</td><td> 31</td><td> 10</td><td> 2</td><td> 49,9</td><td> 36,7</td><td> 10,5</td><td> 1,0</td><td> 1,9</td><td> 1,9</td><td> 0,9</td><td> 2960</td><td> 385</td><td> 50</td><td> 300</td>

<td> 2.6</td><td> 50</td><td> 50</td><td> 53</td><td> 35</td><td> 10</td><td> 2</td><td> 47,3</td><td> 39,5</td><td> 10,7</td><td> 0,7</td><td> 1,8</td><td> 1,7</td><td> 1,4</td><td> 3090</td><td> 403</td><td> 60</td><td> 270</td>

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Petition 870180047132, of 6/1/2018, p. 31/41

Table 5

No.

Coating

Target composition support layer sl (% at)

Main layer of target composition ml (% at)

P_roP_orhere_O Treatment Performance of thick brushing rope te N ° of balls at ra vbmax = 100 pm

<td colspan="2"></td><td>Al</td><td>Cr</td><td>You</td><td>Al</td><td>Cr</td><td>You</td><td>Si</td><td>W</td><td colspan="3">ml / sl</td>

<td> 5.1</td><td>AITiN</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> 66</td><td> -</td><td> 33</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td>not</td><td> 8</td>

<td> 5.2</td><td>AITiN</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> 67</td><td> -</td><td> 34</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td>yea</td><td> 6</td>

<td> 5.3</td><td>TiAIN / AICrSiWN</td><td> 50</td><td> -</td><td> 50</td><td> 57</td><td> 31</td><td> -</td><td> 10</td><td> 2</td><td> 1,84</td><td>not</td><td> 8</td>

<td> 5.4</td><td>TiAIN / AICrSiWN</td><td> 50</td><td> -</td><td> 50</td><td> 57</td><td> 31</td><td> -</td><td> 10</td><td> 2</td><td> 1,84</td><td>yea</td><td> 16</td>

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Table 7

<td>No.</td><td>Coating</td><td colspan="2">Target composition support layer sl (% at)</td><td colspan="4">Main layer of target composition ml (% at)</td><td>Thickness ratio</td><td>Top layer thickness</td><td>Toughness HUpi</td><td>Toughness Vickers</td><td>Module in Young</td>

<td></td><td></td><td>THERE</td><td>You</td><td>Al</td><td>Cr</td><td>Si</td><td>W</td><td>ml / sl</td><td>(pm)</td><td>GPa</td><td>HV</td><td>GPa</td>

<td> 7.1</td><td>TiAIN</td><td colspan="2"> - -</td><td> 50</td><td> 50</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> -</td><td> 4,7</td><td> 35,7</td><td> 2520</td><td> 462</td>

<td> 7.2</td><td>TiAIN / AICrSiWN</td><td> 50</td><td> 50</td><td> 57</td><td> 31</td><td> 10</td><td> 2</td><td> 1,84</td><td> 2,5</td><td> 50,8</td><td> 2960</td><td> 385</td>

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