Microstructural and tribological investigations of CrN coated, wet-stripped and recoated functional substrates used for cutting and forming tools

Recent breakthroughs in wet-stripping Physical Vapour Deposited (PVD) CrN coatings on standard high speed and stainless steels and on hard metal substrates are reported in this work. Validation of the stripping process was evaluated in terms of substrate damage after exposure to the chemical agents and also in terms of the tribological properties of the PVD CrN layers before (Pristine) and after stripping and re-coating (Recoated). The investigation was focussed on the influence of the stripping processes on the hardness, roughness, adherence and wear resistance of the Recoated CrN coatings deposited by electron beam PVD (e-beam) after stripping. Analysis of the chemically stripped and Recoated steel substrates showed that: (a) hardness and elastic modulus of the Recoated e-beam CrN did not change significantly compared to Pristine e-beam CrN, and (b) surface roughness of the Recoated e-beam CrN layers was greater by a factor of 50–60% than the initial. For hard-metal substrates, the surface damage and its effect on the re-deposited coating performance in terms of the chemical reactions during the stripping process were discussed. It was observed that wet-stripping in a basic solution led to depletion of tungsten and carbon at the surface of the stripped WC-Co specimens.