Prakt. Met. Sonderband 30 (1999) 571 
Mw 3 
1 Ti(C,N) coating. The investigated coatings are respectively the secondary solid solutions based on the 
y titanium nitride TiN or titanium carbonitride Ti(C,N). The chemical composition determined basing on 
the measurements made using the Auger electron spectrometer is close to the equilibrium one for the 
ma TiN coatings, whereas for the Ti(C,N) coatings concentration of the elements constituting the coatings 
ai el ag changes, which attests to their chemical inhomogeneity in their quasi-layered setup, caused by the 
tem do periodically changing input of the reactive gases in the PVD process. The chemical composition 
TEE changes between close to the titanium nitride TiN and titanium carbide TiC. 
PN as a result of the metallographic investigations carried out using the scanning electron microscope 
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che in the Fig. 2: SEM image of coating surface Fig. 3: SEM image of the coating fracture, 
ım scale, and topography, Ti(C,N) on the 9-2-2+Si+Ti Ti(C,N) on the 9-2-2+Si+Ti high - speed 
i te oes high- speed steel steel 
(Fig 2, 3) it was found out that the surface morphology of the investigated TiN and Ti(C,N) coatings 
obtained on the investigated high-speed steels is significantly inhomogenous. It is connected with 
occurrences of the microparticles of Ti on the coatings’ surfaces, deposited on the high-speed steel 
sb to find surface or partially constituted coating in the form of liquid droplets, solidified afterwards, and finally 
ond covered by the coating with the columnar structure, applied onto them. The size of these microparticles 
austetite? varies and changes from several tenths of micrometer to more than 10 um. One can also observe 
wien dv conglomerates consisting of several connected microparticles. Moreover, pits are observed also 
he scan resulting from falling out of the microparticles due to the differences of the coefficient of expansion 
oH values of titanium and titanium nitride or carbonitride particles. These pits have various depths, often 
es they do not reach contact line of coating with the substrate, however, in most cases their depth is equal 
I ployed to the thickness of the coatings obtained. Therefore, the coatings’ surfaces are rough, and the Ra 
surface roughness parameter is in the range of 0.25 - 0.40 um. The friction coefficient pu connected 
: ane with roughness of the coatings surfaces is respectively 0.58 or 0.50 for TiN or Ti(C,N) coatings. 
ir 9 Measurements of thickness of the investigated coatings made using the kalotest method and 
Se Tr confirmed by measurements made on fractures on the scanning electron microscope indicate that this 
Mm thickness is in the range of 2.5 - 2.7 um. The details of the topography of the TiN coatings’ surfaces, 
J eels. applied on the investigated high-speed steels, impossible to observe on the scanning electron 
logic microscope, were revealed in the investigations made on the atomic force microscope AFM (Fig.4). 
~ tion Observations on the AFM microscope were made mostly on fragments free from the Ti microparticles, 
wa i as the relatively large size of these microparticles - described above - makes the image flat, 
ox i emphasizing the titanium microparticles only. Varying growth rate of columns constituting the 
aide fr ie investigated coatings causes craters shape of their tips. Presence of these craters and surrounding 
ons 1] protrusions, on which boundaries between columns are visible, makes it possible to evaluate the 
ve average width of these columns which is about 200nm and 260nm respectively for TiN and Ti(C,N) 
wl sl de coatings. Investigations on the GDOS spectrometer revealed that in the transition zones between the 
iy)