Vacuum Modification of the Surface Properties of T15K6 Hard Alloy by Plasma–chemical Synthesis of Tin-Cu Coatings

Authors

• Aleksandr Semenov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch
• Dmitriy Tsyrenov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch
• Nikolay Ulakhanov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch
• Irina Semenova, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch
• Undrakh Mishigdorzhiyn, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch
• Wen Ma, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot
• Simon C. Tung, Innovation Technology Consulting Inc., Glenview
• George E. Totten, Portland State UniversityFollow

Sponsor

This work was carried out with the financial support of the state assignment of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, under scientific topic FWSF-2024-0010.

Published In

Lubricants

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-27-2026

Subjects

Gas discharge plasma, Plasma–chemical reactor, Vacuum arc evaporator; planar magnetron, Vacuum arc evaporation, Ion-plasma sputtering; Composite coatings; Synthesis; Structure, Resistance testing

Abstract

The design and main parameters of a plasma–chemical reactor containing two compartments are presented. One compartment houses a vacuum-arc evaporator, while the other houses a planar magnetron. The compartments are separated by a diaphragm with a dosing slot for injecting copper vapor into the TiN synthesis compartment. The conditions for the synthesis of superhard TiN-Cu composite coatings are experimentally determined. Based on established process parameters for TiN synthesis in a nitrogen-containing plasma by Ti evaporation using a vacuum-arc discharge, it is proposed to apply TiN-Cu coatings by injecting Cu vapor into the TiN synthesis area and sputtering Cu using a magnetron discharge. XRD analyses of both TiN and TiN-Cu coatings show the presence of WC, Ti₂C, and TiN. EDS analysis confirms 5.57 at. % copper on the surface of the TiN-Cu coating. Real-life operating tests of TiN-Cu coatings on replaceable WC-TiC-Co (79/15/6 wt.%) alloy hexagonal inserts used for cutting 40Kh steel revealed that applying the TiN-Cu coating extends the tool life of WC-TiC-Co inserts by about 2.5 times compared with uncoated tools. Cutting force measurements on TiN-Cu-coated inserts showed no vibration or noise during cutting, driven by a reduced friction coefficient and improved heat dissipation at the contact zone between the cutting edge and the workpiece, thereby lowering the temperature in that area.

Rights

Copyright (c) 2026 The Authors

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Locate the Document

https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants14040158

DOI

10.3390/lubricants14040158

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/44650

Citation Details

Semenov, A., Tsyrenov, D., Ulakhanov, N., Semenova, I., Mishigdorzhiyn, U., Ma, W., Tung, S. C., & Totten, G. E. (2026). Vacuum Modification of the Surface Properties of T15K6 Hard Alloy by Plasma–Chemical Synthesis of TiN-Cu Coatings. Lubricants, 14(4), 158.