Industrial Applications of PVD Coating
Technology Today
An introduction to coating services
provided by SECA member companies
Outline of content
• Surface engineering technologies in general, relative comparisons
• Examples of coated tools and components used in major industrial
segments
– Cutting tools
– Metalforming stamping, punching tools
– Plastic injection molding
– Automotive sliding engine components
– Decorative applications
• PVD basics
– Physics of vapor deposition
– Tool surface requirements for good coating adhesion
– Some limitations
• How do you acquire PVD technology for your product?
• Some statistical data on coated tools and components, including SECA
information
Surface engineering principle:
A hard skin protects metals against all
forms of wear
Powder
Salt Bath
Gas
Nitriding Plasma
Thicker modified
surface layer Boriding Paste
Powder
Diffusion Vanadizing TD procedure
Layer VD procedure
Carburizing
Common coatings
Surface
Engineering
Hard Chrome Plating provided by SECA
Coating Nickel Plating Diamond
WC
TiC
TiN
TiCN
CVD CrC TiN
Al2O3 TiCN
PVD TiAlN
CrC, CrN
PACVD DLC WC/C
AlCrN
Ion Implantation N, Cr
Comparison of surface hardening treatments in
metalforming
Surface Layer Hardness, HV Layer Thickness, Process
Work material
Treatment 1000 2000 3000 µm Temperature, oC
Nitriding,
Carbon steels, 125 - 1500 800 - 1100
Carburizing
alloy steels,
stainless steels Gas (Ion)
75
75 -- 750
750 350 - 570
600
nitriding
Hard chrome
25 - 250 40 - 70
Tool steels plating
Thermal Diffusion
5 -10 1000 - 1050
carbide coating
Chemical Vapor
Tool steels, high Deposition (CVD) 5 - 15 900 - 1050
speed steels,
cemented carbide Physical Vapor 2 - 10 250 - 500
Deposition (PVD)
25 µm = 0.001 inch
Hard coatings at the cutting edge of carbide
tools: PVD developments predominate the
last decade
1970 - CVD TiC
CVD TiC / TiCN / TiN
1975 -
CVD TiC / Al2O3 / TiN
1980 - CVD TiC / TiCN / Al2O3 / TiN...
MTCVD TiCN
1985 - PVD TiN
PVD TiCN
1990 - PVD TiAlN
CVD Diamond
PVD TiN / TiAlN / TiN / TiAlN...
1995 -
PVD TiB2
PVD TiN / TiCN /..MoS2, TiAlN / WC-C
2000 -
PVD TiAlN multi-, nano-layers, AlCrN
CVD vs. PVD coated tools
PVD has certain advantages cf. CVD
• PVD applies to HSS and carbide, CVD only to carbide tools
• low Tdep preserves carbide edge toughness
• compressive residual stress σR inhibits crack propagation
• applied to sharp cutting edges
• finer grains (smoother), higher microhardness
• non-equil. compositions impossible with CVD
• environmentally cleaner process
PVD has certain limitations cf. CVD
• adhesion to substrate sometimes marginal, relative to diffusion
bonding in CVD
• thickness limited due to residual stress – typical 4 µm PVD cf. 12 µm
CVD coatings
• multilayer coatings more common in CVD, including alumina (not yet
economic by PVD).
DQ.9 (9709) e
In metal cutting coating properties alter the heat
generation and heat transfer between chip and tool
work work
material material
.
QS1
. chip
.
better QS2
chip
QW1
. coating 2
coating 1 QW2
vc1 tool 1 vc2
tool 2
lk1 lk2
Variables affecting heat generation:
Work material – fracture energy, strain-hardening coefficient, thermal
conductivity
Friction coefficient at tool/chip contact surfaces, contact length dictated by
cutting edge geometry
Coating thermal conductivity
Metal cutting parameters (speed, feed, depth of cut)
Cutting tools are ~2x harder than the workpiece materials;
the coating is significantly harder than the tool substrate ~90+ PVD coating
~85 Carbide tool
Strength and Ductility of Steels ~70 HSS tool
600 56
550 54
500 HARDENED ALLOY
STEELS 51 HRc
450 47
Higher 400 42
Hardness, HB
Cutting
Force 350 NON-HARDENED ALLOY 35
STEELS
300 30
250 PLAIN CARBON 23
STEELS
200
150
100
50
0
0 10 20 30 40
Elongation, % Longer chips
Coatings benefit tools and components
Metal cutting Punching/Stamping Plastic forming molds
The three phases of coating formation
Particle transport
Vaporization in the plasma Condensation
bias
Working gas inflow -
electrons
ions (+/-)
+ +
- -
-
Vacuum chamber
+
energy
atoms
-
molecules - +
+
+
Source materials - Base material
Coating material
(target, cathode, radicals Tool
(substrate)
ingot, etc.)
Reactive gas
inflow
Typical features of PVD coating technology
The Process
High vacuum, plasma-activated coating deposition
Coating temperature between 450 and 1030 oF
Line of sight process (areas can be masked)
Requires clean, contaminant free surfaces
The Result
Micro/nano-grained, hard, lubricant coating
Residual compressive stress
No edge effects – with proper edge prep
Polished surfaces can be coated
No heat treatment necessary after coating
Limited coatability of holes and slots
Critical factors for coated
cutting/forming tool performance
Good tool design, e.g., cutting edge micro-
geometry
Suitable tool substrate material selection
Proper heat treatment (HSS) / carbide grade
choice
Correct surface preparation
Appropriate coating for the application
Selection of a quality coating process
Optimize the machining/forming parameters
Machine trial with coated tool on the job
Importance of surface preparation:
factors that affect coating adhesion
Contamination-free surfaces: grease, oxide
layers, polishing residues must be removed; no
Zn, Cd and low temp. braze metals
No overheating during surface grinding: avoid
deep grind marks and high surface roughness
Edge prep is important: sharp edge should be
de-burred, correctly honed
EDM’ed surfaces must be post- treated to
remove white layer
No surface cobalt depletion on carbide
substrates
No cobalt capping on carbide substrates
PVD technology acquisition options
Tool
Toolcompany,
company,
major
majorend
enduser
user
1.
1.Toll
Tollcoating
coating 3.
3.Partnership
Partnershipon
on
2.
2.Investment
Investmentinin
service
servicewith
withoneoneor
or in-house
in-house
coating
coatingplant
plant
several
severaltoll
tollcoaters
coaters coating
coatingplant
plant
Estimates of realized and potential PVD coating global
market for cutting tools
HSS new
HSS recoat
5%
33% Carbide
5%
$270M In-house carbide PVD
5% $830M 75%
32%
Potential - CVD
conversion
9%
11% Potential - HSS
uncoated
Potential - carbide
uncoated
Assume PVD value = 10% of $1.1B tool sales = $1100M; total PVD
coated penetration of the global cutting tool market is ~25%, cf. 33%
CVD coated, 32% uncoated.
PVD coating USA statistics help SECA members plan their business
253M$
Market Capacity: US cutting tools 2003 total consumption =
PVD value if all produced $2.53B; assume PVD value is 10%
cutting tools were PVD
coated (others are CVD
coated or uncoated)
Analysis:
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
160M$
Market Potential:
PVD value of tools for
which PVD coating makes Company’s
sense Realizable market Strategies
potential is 56% of
Tactics
current market volume
Goals
Market Volume: 90M$
PVD value of coated tools Inferred from
(including OEMs) SECA statistics
This calculation
gives total market
penetration of increase of GSR
58%. increase of
XXM$ market share
Company Market Share:
PVD GSR cutting tools
SECA member company can calculate its
market share from SECA statistics
2003 2010?
