Performance of new AlTiN coatings in dry and high speed cutting

The recently developed AlTiN-Saturn coating has been proven to increase the cutting performance in heavy duty machining of e.g. hardened steel (up to 63 HRC) or austenitic stainless steel. These advantages are observed in different cutting operations like milling, turning, or drilling. The strong improvement of the operational properties are directly connected to the low droplet density, a very smooth surface, high hardness, very good adhesion, and the extreme fine-grained morphology, as adjusted by a combination of the arc enhanced glow discharge pretreatment and appropriate process parameters during the cathodic d.c. arc deposition process. The new AlTiN-Saturn coating is characterized and its performance on cemented carbide and HSS tools compared to other commercial (Ti,Al)N films. For applications where low friction is of favour, AlTiN-Saturn can be combined with a W-C:H top layer. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.