Reciprocating wear behaviour of (Zr, Hf)N coatings

In the present study the effect of Hf addition up to 21% on the tribological performance of ZrN coating with the use of reciprocating wear tester was investigated. The coatings were deposited on hardened AISI D2 quality cold work tool steel by Arc-Physical Vapour Deposition technique. Alloying of ZrN with Hf did not change the hardness significantly, where as achieved an improvement on adhesion strength between the coating and the substrate. According to the results of reciprocating wear tests, the wear resistance of the ZrN coating increases with the addition of Hf.