Tribology International 81 (2015) 6172

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Tribology International
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/triboint

The effects of AlCrN coating, surface modication

and their combination on the tribological properties
of high speed steel under dry conditions
InSik Cho a, Auezhan Amanov b,c,n, JongDeok Kim d
a
Department of Hybrid Engineering, Sun Moon University, Asan 336708, South Korea
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo 1258585, Japan
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sun Moon University, Asan 336708, South Korea
d
Molds & Dies Technology R&D Group, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Incheon 406840, South Korea

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this study, the effects of a combination of ultrasonic nanocrystalline surface modication (UNSM)
Received 15 April 2014 technique and AlCrN coating on the tribological properties of high speed steel (HSS) were investigated.
Received in revised form The AlCrN coating with a thickness of about 3 mm was deposited by the physical vapor deposition (PVD)
27 June 2014
technique onto the polished and UNSM-treated HSS specimens. The tribological and scratch tests results
Accepted 3 August 2014
Available online 11 August 2014
revealed that the AlCrN coating deposited onto the UNSM-treated specimen showed better tribological
properties compared to that of the AlCrN coating deposited onto the polished specimen, which may be
Keywords: attributed to the modied surface beneath the AlCrN coating. Hence, it is expected that the results of this
High speed steel study can be applied to reduce the wear of ne blanking punches.
AlCrN coating
& 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Surface modication
Tribology

1. Introduction
For modern industrial production, in particular mass produc-
tion, machining is one of the most important shaping and forming
process. Almost all tools employed for this purpose are made of
high speed steels (HSSs). In recent times, the use of HSSs has also
gained increasing importance for chipless shaping, e.g. for extru-
sion, blanking, molding and punching tools due to their excellent
properties such as high working hardness, high wear resistance,
excellent toughness and high retention of hardness and red
hardness. The expanding use of HSSs in ne blanking punches
(FBPs) has brought out a new challenge tool resistance and
lifetime is not satisfactory any more. In the FBP process, the wear
of punch occurs due to the cycled contact of counter surfaces.
Therefore, the punch is exposed to high stress and requires
excellent resistance to wear. The result of wear is not only
damaged tools, but also the tolerance of the blanked parts is
increased. It has been reported earlier that the FBP materials have
a direct inuence on wear resistance and tool endurance [13].
n
Corresponding author at: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tokyo University of
Science, Tokyo 1258585, Japan.
Tel./fax: 82 41 530 2894.
E-mail address: amanov@rs.tus.ac.jp (A. Amanov).
When worn tools are used, the tool surface directly affects the
quality of products and causes some surface defects. Generally, a
blanking tool should produce several millions parts during the
lifetime of a tool material, which is evaluated by wear. Therefore, it
is very important to enhance the resistance to wear of materials
for FBPs.
In many engineering applications, such as internal combustion
engines (ICEs), cutting tools, hard disk drives, etc. thin coatings
have been widely used to enhance the resistance to wear and
improve the performance of mechanical components. The applica-
tion of thin coatings on a metal substrate is also a typical method
to improve the tribological properties of mechanical components
during sliding, rolling and impacting. A large volume of studies can
be found in the literature on the various coatings such as AlCrN,
TiAlN, TiAlCrN and TiAlVN deposited onto metallic materials by
physical vapor deposition (PVD) may enhance the resistance to
wear and reduce the friction coefcient of components [47]. In
particular, the AlCrN coatings have been used widely in the
industry due to high resistance to wear, low friction surface and
adhesion between tool and working piece [810]. Col et al. [5]
have studied the wear and blanking performance of AlCrN-coated
punches and compared to those of the uncoated punching tools. It
was found that the wear of punch can be reduced by AlCrN
coating. They have also reported that fracture on the punch cutting

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2014.08.003
0301-679X/& 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
62 I. Cho et al. / Tribology International 81 (2015) 6172
edge was observed after the blanking tests, where the delamina-
tion of AlCrN coating was occurred. In this regards, it is believed
that the mechanical properties and surface structure of the
substrate have a signicant effect on the friction and wear
behavior and adhesion property of AlCrN coatings.
It has been well known that surface modication techniques
can be used to further improve the mechanical and tribological
properties of materials. Numerous surface modication techniques
have been subjected in various industries [11,12]. Recently, a
straightforward surface modication technique called ultrasonic
nanocrystalline surface modication (UNSM) technique was devel-
oped. It has been demonstrated among the different surface
modication techniques that this technique is an effective and
economical method to produce a nanocrystalline surface layer at
the top surface of materials without changing the chemical
composition. The UNSM technique does not only improve the
mechanical and tribological properties of various metallic materi-
als, but also produces a corrugated surface having numerous of
desired dimples/indents on the treated surface. More details of the
UNSM technique including the effectiveness on the mechanical
and tribological properties of materials can be found in our
previous studies [1214]. Hence, it is expected that the modied
surface of HSS substrate may be benecial for improving the
strength, tribological properties and adhesion of AlCrN coatings.
To our best knowledge, the published works pertaining to duplex
system (surface modication coating) tribology is quite limited.
The main objective of this study is to investigate the tribological
and adhesion properties of AlCrN coating deposited onto the
polished and UNSM-treated substrates. It is expected from this
study that understanding such properties of HSSs would be an
essential factor in developing of FBPs with high durability and
reliability. In this study, four different HSS specimens, namely, the
polished, UNSM-treated, over-coated polished and over-coated
UNSM-treated specimens were used.
Table 1
Some mechanical properties of the polished, UNSM-treated and the counter surface
ball specimens.
Material Young's modulus, Hardness Poisson's
GPa ratio
Counter surface SUJ2 207 63 HRC 0.32
ball
Polished disk HSS 197 740 HV 0.28
UNSM-treated HSS 242 960 HV 0.28
disk
Fig. 1. Schematic representation showing the surface treatment procedure on an HSS substrate: polished (a), UNSM-treated (b), over-coated polished (c) and over-coated
UNSM-treated (d) specimens.
2. Experimental details
2.1. Specimen preparation
In this study, a series of HSS specimens with dimensions of
25 mm in diameter and 7.9 mm in thickness were used as a
substrate. Some of them were subjected to the UNSM technique
before AlCrN coating deposition. Some mechanical properties of
the polished, the UNSM-treated and the counter surface ball
specimens are shown in Table 1. Afterwards, the specimens i.e.
polished and UNSM-treated, were coated with a thin wear resis-
tant AlCrN coating deposited by PVD cathodic arc using a system
bias and cathodic arc evaporation. For the deposition of the PVD
coating, a target of Al70Cr30 (in at %) alloy with size of
280  8  8 mm3 was set in a controlled nitrogen atmosphere.
The chamber was evacuated to about 10  3 Pa. High purity
(99.999%) nitrogen was used at a N2 pressure of 1 Pa and at a bias
voltage of  100 V. The deposition time was adjusted to obtain a
layer with a thickness of about 3 mm. A combination of UNSM
technique and AlCrN coating deposition processes onto the HSS
substrate is shown in Fig. 1.
In principle, in this study, the UNSM technique produced a
nanocrystalline surface layer at the top surface of HSS specimen by
striking the surface up to 20,000 times per second with a WC tip
with a diameter of 2.38 mm, which was attached to an ultrasonic
horn. Each specimen was installed into a magnetic board on a
exible manufacturing system carrier, which is reciprocally moved
at a speed of 3000 mm/min. The UNSM treatment input para-
meters to treat the specimens are shown in Table 2. These input
parameters can control the surface properties, nanocrystalline
surface layer thickness, grain size and corrugated surface wave-
length. Prior to UNSM treatment, the specimens were cleaned in
ethanol and deionized water for 10 min each using an ultrasonic
bath to remove the impurities and particles from the surface.
2.2. Tribological and micro-scratch tests
A series of tribological tests were performed using a commer-
cial schwingung reibung verschleiss (SRV4, Germany) reciprocat-
ing ball-on-disk tribometer at a temperature of 25 1C and a relative
humidity of  60% under dry sliding conditions. The HSS speci-
mens were slid reciprocally against a SAE 52100 bearing steel ball
with a diameter of 10 mm. All of the tribological tests were carried
out in the range of normal loads from 20 N to 200 N, a frequency of
20 Hz with a stroke of 1 mm for 60 min. The long-term tribological
tests were lasted for 3 h at a normal load of 400 N in order to
assess the durability of AlCrN coating deposited onto the polished
 I. Cho et al. / Tribology International 81 (2015) 6172 63

and UNSM-treated specimens. During this long-term tests, the a prescribed 50 N over a scratch distance of 2 mm at a speed of
temperature of the test chamber was measured using a non- 4 mm/min. Scratch-induced damage during the scratching process is
contact temperature sensor. All the tribological tests were monitored by normal load and friction force measurement. All the
repeated three times and the average values were reported in specimens were subjected to three micro-scratches in order to ensure
this study. reproducibility of the micro-scratch tests results. The micro-scratch
Adhesion is an important parameter for AlCrN coatings because and tribological tests can be satisfactory used for measuring the
after detachment of thin coatings from the materials surface it does durability of AlCrN coating deposited onto the polished and UNSM-
not serve its purpose and could cause additional damage to substrate. treated specimens.
Micro-scratch tests were performed using a Rhesca TB-01 micro-
scratch tester equipped with a conical diamond tip in order to
assess the resistance to scratch of the specimens. During the single 2.3. Surface characterization
stroke micro-scratch test, the load was applied incrementally up to
The surface morphology and wear track that formed on the
Table 2
surface of the specimens after tribological and scratch tests were
UNSM treatment parameters. investigated using a eld emission scanning electron microscope
(FE-SEM; SUPRA 40 ZEISS, Germany). Chemical composition of the
Parameters Values specimens before and after tribological tests was investigated
using an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope (EDS; Rntec
Frequency, kHz 20
Amplitude, mm 30 QuanTax QX1, Germany) system installed in a FE-SEM. The surface
Horn speed, mm/min 3000 roughness of the specimens was obtained using an atomic force
Impact load, N 20 microscope (AFM; Seiko SPA400, Japan). Two locations on each
Interval, mm 0.07 specimen were randomly selected and scanned at the nano-scale.
Tip (ball) diameter, mm 2.38
Number of impacts per square 22578
AFM imaging of the specimens was conducted using a Seiko
SPA400 with a Si3N4 tip with a radius of 20 nm in contact mode.

Fig. 2. 3D AFM images including the average surface roughness values of the polished (a), UNSM-treated (b), over-coated polished (c) and over-coated UNSM-treated (d) HSS
specimens.
64 I. Cho et al. / Tribology International 81 (2015) 6172
The tip had a nominal spring constant of 41 N/m and a resonance
frequency of 336 kHz. The scan rate was set to be approximately of
0.42 Hz. The cross-sectional proles of the wear tracks were
measured at three different points using a two-dimensional (2D)
surface prolometer (Surfcom 1500 SD3, Accretech, Japan) to
quantify the wear volume. An Image Plus software developed by
CSM Instruments (Switzerland) was used to obtain the cross-
sectional proles from the shallow wear tracks. The specic wear
rate and the corresponding standard deviation were quantied as
the ratio of wear volume loss over the normal load multiplied by
total reciprocating sliding distance.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Microstructural evolution and hardness
Fig. 2 shows the typical 3D AFM images of the polished, UNSM-
treated, over-coated polished and over-coated UNSM-treated speci-
mens. It is evident that the signicant microstructural alteration was
observed on the surface of the UNSM-treated and over-coated
specimens. The strikes of a WC tip deformed the peaks during the
UNSM treatment resulting in the formation of a much dense
morphology compared to that of the polished specimen and also
the UNSM treatment feed-rate paths are visible as shown in Fig. 2(b).
The polished specimen consists of an irregular structure with
abrasive grooves, while the UNSM-treated specimen is relatively
smooth with a regular corrugated surface structure. It can be also
seen from Fig. 2(c and d) that no signicant difference was observed
between the over-coated polished and over-coated UNSM-treated
specimens except a small waviness on the over-coated UNSM-treated
specimen. Also, it is apparent that both over-coated specimens had
pores with an average diameter of 23 mm on the surface. The
average surface roughness (Ra) values measured using an AFM over
HSS substrate
AlCrN coating
HSS substrate
Fig. 3. Cross-sectional SEM images of the polished (a), UNSM-treated (b) over-coated polished (c) and over-coated UNSM-treated (d) HSS specimens. The dashed lines
represent the modied surface layer after the UNSM technique.
the scan area of 100 mm  100 mm are also shown in Fig. 2. It is
evident that the average surface roughness (Ra) of the polished
specimens reduced after UNSM treatment from 0.09 mm to 0.07 mm,
while both over-coated specimens had similar average surface
roughness of 0.08 mm.
Fig. 3 shows the cross-sectional SEM images of the polished,
UNSM-treated, over-coated polished and over-coated UNSM-
treated specimens. Fig. 3(a) shows the cross-sectional SEM
images of the polished specimen with a chemical composition
of 51.94% Fe, 23.21% W, 11.99% V, 7.02% S and 5.83% Cr in wt%. It
can be seen from Fig. 3(b) that a modied surface layer with a
thickness of about 4 mm was produced at the top surface layer by
the UNSM technique. The dashed line represents the plastically
deformed surface layer and the interface between the nano- and
coarse-grained structures. Hence, it is believed that the coarse
grains of the polished specimen reduced into several of nan-
ometers due to the repeatedly high-frequency strikes of a WC
tip. The properties of the modied layer can be controlled by
UNSM treatment parameters such as impact load, vibrating
amplitude, striking ball diameter, feed rate and the nature of
the specimen materials. It has been reported earlier in our
previous studies that the mechanical and tribological properties
of metallic materials were improved, which may be attributed to
the effects of UNSM technique such as increased hardness,
rened grains, induced compressive residual stress, micro-
dimples etc. [1214]. Fig. 3(c and d) shows the over-coated
AlCrN coating on the untreated and UNSM-treated specimens
with a thickness of about 3 mm and a chemical composition of
34.84% Al, 35.21% Cr and 29.95% N in wt%. The existence of a
modied surface layer with a thickness of about 4 mm beneath
the AlCrN coating can be seen in Fig. 3(d) as well.
The Vickers hardness measurement of the specimens was
performed using the Vickers hardness tester (Akashi Corp.
AAV-4M, Japan) with a diamond pyramid Vickers indenter at
UNSM -treated layer
Non-affected zone
HSS substrate
UNSM-treated layer
AlCrN coating
Non-affected zone
HSS substrate
 I. Cho et al. / Tribology International 81 (2015) 6172
Fig. 4. Comparison of hardness for the polished, UNSM-treated, over-coated
polished and over-coated UNSM-treated specimens.
a load of 3 N (300 gf) and constant indenter dwell time of 30 s.
All the indentation tests were carried out under ambient
laboratory conditions. A material hardness is an important
factor since it represents the ability of the material to resist
indentation. In general, it is widely accepted that wear resis-
tance of materials increases with increasing hardness. Fig. 4
shows the comparison of the hardness values for the speci-
mens. It was revealed that the hardness of the polished and
UNSM-treated specimens were about 740 HV and 960 HV,
respectively. Both over-coated specimens showed almost the
same hardness value of about 2800 HV, which can be explained
that the diamond pyramid Vickers indenter did not reach the
HSS substrate. The maximum penetration depth that was
measured by AFM was found to be about 0.22 mm. It is well
established that hardness measurements on coatings must be
performed at a maximum depth of between 10% and 15% of
total coating thickness in order to avoid further contribution of
the substrate beneath. The results of microhardness tests
showed that the top surface layer of the UNSM-treated speci-
men was harder than that of the untreated specimen by about
23%. The increase in hardness due to UNSM treatment can be
attributed to both grain renement and work-hardening
effects on the surface layer following the Hall-Petch relation-
ship [1517].
3.2. Scratch behavior
Scratches on a surface may be considered as a form of surface
damage caused by wear that occur due to severe frictional
interaction against a counter surface. In general, a scratch test is
suitable for thin coatings of thickness ranging from 0.1 to 20 mm.
Fig. 5 shows the variation in friction force with respect to scratch
length for the specimens. It is obvious from Fig. 5 that the friction
force of the overall specimens increased linearly with increasing
normal load. However, the UNSM-treated and over-coated UNSM-
treated specimens exhibited a little bit lower friction force
compared to those of the polished and over-coated polished
specimens, respectively. The friction coefcient values of the
specimens, which were quantied as the ratio of friction force to
incremental normal load, were about  0.80,  0.74,  0.77 and
0.69 for the polished, UNSM-treated, over-coated polished and
over-coated UNSM-treated specimens, respectively, as shown in
Fig. 6. Moreover, unlike the friction force behavior of the polished
and over-coated polished specimens, the friction force behavior of
the UNSM-treated and over-coated UNSM-treated specimens
slightly uctuated, which may be attributed to the corrugated
surface structure after UNSM treatment. It has been reported
65
Fig. 5. Variation in friction force of the polished and UNSM-treated (a) and over-
coated polished and over-coated UNSM-treated (b) specimens as a function of
scratch length of 2 mm.
earlier that the corrugated surface structure produced by the
UNSM technique was benecial for reducing the friction coef-
cient of Cu alloy [18]. It is also worth mentioning that the friction
coefcient of the polished and over-coated polished specimens
was very high at the onset of scratching which may be attributed
to the initial contact point of the tip and the specimens.
When the load reached a certain critical level, the thin coating
started fracturing and delaminating from the substrate, since at
higher load on the indenter having large tip radius, the depth of
the mechanical stress distribution in the specimens exceeded the
coating thickness. This process reected in abrupt increases in
friction coefcient. The types of the failure which are often
observed in the scratch test depend critically on the properties
of substrate and thin coating. The critical load required to cause
the rst delamination at the edge of the scratch track (adhesive
failure) characterizes the adhesion properties of thin coatings. In
this study, delamination was observed at the onset of scratch for
both over-coated polished and over-coated UNSM-treated speci-
mens at a maximum incremental normal load of 50 N. This
means that the main stress eld generated (up to a maximum
contact pressure) is not restricted to the AlCrN coating and
exceeded the yield limit of the HSS substrate. The scratch wear
groove observation plays an important role in better under-
standing of elasto-plastic deformation behavior and the effec-
tiveness of UNSM technique on the resistance to scratch. Fig. 7
shows the FE-SEM images of the scratch grooves for the speci-
mens. It can be seen from Fig. 7 that the scratch grooves of the
specimens became broader and deeper with increasing normal
load. Also, it is obvious that the scratch grooves exhibited similar
material removal and deformation behaviors. Material pile-up at
66 I. Cho et al. / Tribology International 81 (2015) 6172
Fig. 6. Variation in friction coefcient derived from scratch test for the polished
and UNSM-treated (a) and over-coated polished and over-coated UNSM-treated
(b) specimens as a function of scratch length of 2 mm.
the edge of the scratch grooves was evident in all the specimens,
but it was more signicant in the polished and over-coated
polished specimens compared to those of the UNSM-treated
and over-coated UNSM-treated specimens, respectively. How-
ever, covering the polished and UNSM-treated specimens with
a thin AlCrN coating had almost no effect on the resistance to
scratch since the thickness of the AlCrN coating was relatively
thin to bear the maximum incremental normal load of 50 N.
However, it can be seen from Fig. 7(d) that in the beginning of the
scratch test, the indenter tip was mostly sliding on the over-
coated AlCrN coating that was deposited onto the UNSM-treated
specimen, not causing damage to the thin AlCrN coating, which is
responsible for the improvement of bonding between AlCrN
coating and UNSM-treated substrate. The bonding strength of
the AlCrN coating on the UNSM-treated specimen has increased
considerably due to the deposition of AlCrN coating inside of the
corrugated surface. Muthuvel and Rajagopal [19] have studied the
inuence of dimples on the tribological performance of AlCrN
coatings. They have reported that the surface texturing improved
appreciably the bonding strength between the AlCrN coating and
the substrate. Moreover, the maximum depth of scratch grooves,
which were obtained by surface prolometer, were found to be
about 15 and 12 mm for the over-coated polished and over-coated
UNSM-treated specimens, respectively. Jardret et al. [20] have
reported earlier that there is a good correlation between the
surface morphology of scratch wear grooves and surface hard-
ness. Moreover, the deformation patterns induced in the scratch
process provide preliminary information needed to dene the
material removal behavior. It has also been reported earlier that
the observed plastic deformation features of scratch test, i.e. pile-
up and damages inside and at the edge of the scratch groove
result from tensile stress [21]. It was revealed according to the
obtained results that the UNSM-treated and over-coated UNSM-
treated specimens exhibited a bit higher resistance to scratch
than the polished and over-coated polished specimens, respec-
tively, which may be attributed to the increase in hardness and
the formation of plastically deformed layer at the top surface of
the UNSM-treated specimens.
3.3. Friction and wear behavior
The friction and wear behavior of the specimens was
assessed using a reciprocating ball-on-disk tribometer at a
temperature of 25 1C and in the range of normal loads from
20 N to 200 N under dry sliding conditions sliding against a
bearing steel ball. Fig. 8(a) shows the friction coefcient beha-
vior as a function of total number of cycles for the specimens at
a normal load of 20 N. It can be seen from Fig. 8(a) that the
polished and over-coated polished specimens exhibited a high
friction coefcient value of about  0.80 and  0.67 with high
uctuation throughout the test period, respectively. However,
the UNSM-treated and over-coated UNSM-treated specimens
exhibited a relatively lower friction coefcient value of  0.64
and  0.61 throughout the test period, respectively. It can be
clearly seen from Fig. 8(a) that the friction coefcient of the
over-coated UNSM-treated specimen increased in a slow rate
compared with other specimens in the running-in process. The
reason for this friction behavior is that there is little or no true
contact area due to the corrugated surface structure of the over-
coated UNSM-treated specimen at the initial stage of sliding and
also the AlCrN coating readily oxidizes, which has low shear
strength, so that the oxide lm easily separates the counter
surface ball and the disk specimen. After running-in process, the
peak asperities break up and at surface comes into contact
which increases the bonding force between the mating surfaces.
At the same time due to the plowing effect, inclusion of trapped
wear particles and debris and roughening of the disk specimen,
the friction increases with continuing of sliding distance. After
certain duration of sliding distance, the increase in surface
roughness and other surface parameters may reach to a certain
steady-state value and hence the friction coefcient remains
constant for the rest of the sliding distance (see Fig. 8(a)). It was
found that covering the UNSM-treated specimen with a thin
AlCrN coating led to a lower friction coefcient compared to
that of the AlCrN coating which was deposited onto the polished
specimen. The relatively lower friction coefcient of the UNSM-
treated specimens compared to the polished specimens may be
attributed to the increased hardness and corrugated surface
structure, which signify that the contact area between the
UNSM-treated specimen and the corresponding surface ball
was smaller than that of the polished specimen. The similar
friction coefcient behavior of AlCrN coatings was also reported
in previous studies [22,23]. Hence, it is obvious that the friction
coefcient of the specimens generally followed the value of
their friction coefcients that were obtained from scratch tests.
The friction coefcient values of the specimens were plotted as a
function of normal load as shown in Fig. 8(b). It was found that
the friction coefcient very much depends on the normal
load, where it decreased with increasing normal load. This
 I. Cho et al. / Tribology International 81 (2015) 6172 67

Fig. 7. FE-SEM images of scratch grooves generated on the polished (a), UNSM-treated (b), over-coated polished (c) and over-coated UNSM-treated (d) specimens at a
maximum incremental normal load of 50 N.

Fig. 8. Variation in friction coefcient of the polished, UNSM-treated, over-coated polished and over-coated UNSM-treated specimens as a function of total number of cycles
at a normal load of 20 N (a) and at different normal loads (b).

phenomenon can be explained that the presence of a layer of
foreign material at the interface and the increase in surface
roughening and a large quantity of wear debris are responsible
for a low friction coefcient at a higher load. The decrease in
friction coefcient with increasing normal load of metallic
materials can be seen in previous studies as well [24,25]. The
UNSM-treated and over-coated UNSM-treated specimens exhib-
ited lower friction coefcient at all normal loads compared to
those of the polished and over-coated polished specimens.
Variation in wear rate of the specimens quantied after wear
tests at different normal loads is shown in Fig. 9. It was found that
the wear rate increased with increasing normal load. Also, it can
be seen that covering the polished and UNSM-treated specimens
with a thin AlCrN coating drastically enhanced the wear resis-
tance. Moreover, it was revealed that the UNSM-treated specimen
showed an increase in wear resistance compared to that of the
polished specimen, which may be attributed to the increased
hardness and the corrugated surface structure. It has been
reported earlier that the wear resistance of steel substrate
enhanced with increasing hardness [26]. Hence, it is obvious that
the wear rates of the specimens generally followed the order of
their friction coefcients.
68 I. Cho et al. / Tribology International 81 (2015) 6172
3.4. Worn surface characteristics
The wear behavior of the specimens was further investigated
using a FE-SEM in order to better understand the effectiveness of
the UNSM technique on the wear resistance. Fig. 10 shows the
FE-SEM images of wear tracks formed on the polished, UNSM-
treated, over-coated polished and over-coated UNSM-treated spe-
cimens. In all gures, the relative motion between the counter
surface ball and the disk specimens is in horizontal direction. It is
observed that the dominant wear mechanism exhibiting on the
polished specimen is severe adhesive and abrasive wear (see
Fig. 10(a)), but it becomes mild adhesive and abrasive wear by
covering the polished specimen with AlCrN coating (see Fig. 10(b)).
Fig. 9. Variation in wear rate of the polished, UNSM-treated, over-coated polished
and over-coated UNSM-treated specimens quantied after wear test at different
normal loads.
Sliding direction
Adhesive wear
Abrasive wear
Abrasive wear
Adhesive wear
Fig. 10. FE-SEM images of worn surface for the polished (a), UNSM-treated (b), over-coated polished (c) and over-coated UNSM-treated (d) specimens after wear tests at a
normal load of 20 N under reciprocating dry sliding conditions.
However, the dominant wear mechanism becomes mild abrasive
and adhesive wear on the UNSM-treated specimen, while only
mild abrasive wear occurs on the over-coated UNSM-treated
specimen. It implies that the modied surface structure can reduce
adhesive wear, while the modied surface structure covered by
AlCrN coating eliminate adhesive wear. Overall, it can be clearly
seen after reciprocating sliding friction test that the over-coated
specimens slid against a bearing steel ball exhibited a signicant
small wear track compared to those of the polished and UNSM-
treated specimens with evidence of severe signs of abrasion inside
the wear track, which is typically caused by abrasion due to
asperities of the counter surface or particles and debris generated
during reciprocating sliding friction test. However, the UNSM-
treated and over-coated UNSM-treated specimens exhibited very
mild wear track as shown in Fig. 10(b and d). An increase in wear
resistance of the UNSM-treated and over-coated UNSM-treated
specimens compared to those of the polished and over-coated
polished specimens may be attributed to the increase in hardness
and to the decrease in contact patch diameter, respectively. To
demonstrate this fact the real contact patch diameter (2a) and
maximum contact pressure (Pm) calculated using appropriate
formula from Johnson [27] at a normal load of 20 N for the
polished and UNSM-treated specimens were found to be 168 mm
and 157 mm, and 0.78 GPa and 0.84 GPa, respectively. The critical
load at yield inception (Pc) of the counter surface balls come into
contact with the polished and UNSM-treated specimens calculated
using the following formula [28,29] was found to be 466 N and
402 N, respectively:
3 Y
Pc C 3 R1  2 2 1
6 E
where Cv is the function of the Poisson's ratio Cv 1.234 1.256v, E,
Y and v are the Young's modulus, yield strength and Poisson's ratio
of the counter surface ball material, respectively. Here Y was of the
Adhesive wear
No wear
Abrasive wear
No wear
Abrasive wear
 I. Cho et al. / Tribology International 81 (2015) 6172 69

Fig. 11. Cross-sectional wear track proles of the polished and UNSM-treated (a) and over-coated polished and over-coated UNSM-treated (b) specimens after wear tests at a
normal load of 20 N under reciprocating dry sliding conditions.

Fig. 12. Variation in friction coefcient and temperature of the over-coated polished and (a) and over-coated UNSM-treated (b) specimens as a function of total number of
cycles at a normal load of 400 N under reciprocating dry sliding conditions.

polished and UNSM-treated specimens calculated using the for-
mula suggested by Kogut and Komvopoulos [30] was found to be
2.18 GPa and 2.39 GPa, respectively. It can be explained according
to these above calculation results that low contact pressure, low
critical load and small contact area are responsible for the less
possibility of plastic deformation and wear in the UNSM-treated
specimens.
The modied surface structure changed the contact loading
condition at the interface, where the surface hard peaks endured
most of the loading and prevented the wear debris and particles
from direct pressing on the surface. The initial wear process could
also be mitigated with modied surface structure that may trap
wear debris and particles. It is obvious that the wear track on the
polished and over-coated polished specimens was clearly formed
(Fig. 10(a and c)), while it was partially formed on the
UNSM-treated and over-coated UNSM-treated specimens. This
partially formed wear track may be attributed to the corrugated
surface topography generated due to the repeatedly strikes at an
interval of 0.07 mm under high-frequency of UNSM technique.
Hence, only the highest peaks of the corrugated surface structure
come into contact with the corresponding counter surface ball
during reciprocating sliding, which also helped to reduce the
contact area between two mating surfaces in relative motion.
Thus, low friction coefcient and high wear resistance of the
UNSM-treated specimens can be elucidated. The mechanism of
low friction due to the corrugated surface was fully illustrated in
the previous study [31]. Fig. 11 shows the cross-sectional prole of
the wear tracks generated on the specimens after wear test at a
normal load of 20 N. It can be seen that the polished specimen
exhibited the deepest wear track among other specimens. The
depth of the UNSM-treated and over-coated UNSM-treated speci-
mens was shallower than those of the polished and over-coated
polished specimens, respectively. It is well known that hardness
has been regarded as a primary material property which denes
wear resistance, and a higher coating hardness generally corre-
sponds to superior wear resistance without the elastic strain to
failure [32].
3.5. AlCrN coating fracture characteristics
For the tool applications, the durability and stability of thin
coatings are of crucial importance since delamination of the
coatings during service may degrade the overall performance of
the tools, which ultimately limits the service lifetime of the coated
70 I. Cho et al. / Tribology International 81 (2015) 6172

tools. The fracture phenomenon was determined as the recipro-
cating sliding time to reach a high value of the friction coefcient
(sudden increase in the friction coefcient). The tribological
behavior of the sliding surfaces is dependent on the frictional
heating. Surface and near surface temperatures may become high
enough to cause changes in structure and some properties of the
sliding surfaces. Fig. 12 shows the variation in friction coefcient
and temperature as a function of total number of cycles for the
over-coated polished and over-coated UNSM-treated specimens. It
was found that the friction coefcient of the over-coated UNSM-
treated specimen was lower than that of the over-coated polished
specimen throughout the long-term test. It can be seen from
Fig. 12(a) that the friction coefcient gradually increased at the
onset of sliding and reached the maximum friction coefcient
value of about 0.66, and then gradually decreased and stabilized to
a friction coefcient value of about 0.58. However, with continuing
the tribological test, the AlCrN coating deposited onto the polished
specimen fractured at reciprocating sliding time of about 8637 s
(172000 cycles). Apparently, uctuations of the friction coefcient
observed in Fig. 8(a) might be ascribed to the onset of coating
failure and/or the increase of wear debris within the wear track. In
the case of over UNSM-treated specimen, the friction coefcient

Sliding direction

Fig. 13. FE-SEM images of worn surface for the over-coated polished (a) and over-coated UNSM-treated (b) specimens after reciprocating sliding time of 3 h at a normal load
of 400 N under reciprocating dry sliding conditions.

Al Cr Fe N

V S W O

Al Cr Fe N

V S W O

Fig. 14. Typical corresponding element distribution maps of the over-coated polished (a) and over-coated UNSM-treated (b) specimens subjected to reciprocating sliding
time of 3 h at a normal load of 400 N under reciprocating dry sliding conditions.
 I. Cho et al. / Tribology International 81 (2015) 6172
also gradually increased at the onset of sliding and reached the
maximum friction coefcient value of about 0.53, and then
gradually decreased and stabilized to a friction coefcient value
of about 0.49. Interestingly, there was no fracture or delamination
evidence was found on the over-coated UNSM-treated specimen
observing the tribological test results. In tribological contacts the
rise in temperature due to the frictional heat generated at the
peaks of the asperities can be of very high and under normal
circumstances for most materials this has an adverse effect on the
durability and fatigue life of mechanical components due to the
increase in friction and wear. The temperature of the test chamber
was measured during these long-term tribological tests. It was
found that the temperature of the over-coated polished specimen
increased from 25 1C to 50 1C, while the temperature of the over-
coated UNSM-treated specimen increased from 25 1C to 45 1C as
shown in Fig. 12. It is obvious that the temperature is gradually
increased for the over-coated polished specimen, where it is
somehow stable for the over-coated UNSM-treated specimen. It
is believed that the rise in temperature may attributed to the real
contact area where it was smaller for the over-coated UNSM-
treated specimen compared to that of the over-coated polished
specimen. As a result, it was found that the UNSM technique may
also reduce the frictional heat generated during the long-term
tribological tests due to a low friction coefcient and small contact
area. These results are of importance in industrial practice where
temperature rise is considered to be detrimental to sliding for
most engineering materials. However, more experimental works
are needed to be performed in the near future in order to make a
nal conclusion about the effects of UNSM technique on contact
temperature.
The wear behavior of the specimens was further investigated
using a FE-SEM in order to better understand the inuence of the
UNSM technique on the fracture behavior of AlCrN coating
deposited on the UNSM-treated specimen. Fig. 13 shows the
FE-SEM images of the typical wear scars generated on the over-
coated polished and over-coated UNSM-treated specimens. It can
be seen that the resistance to wear of the over-coated UNSM-
treated specimen was higher than that of the over-coated polished
specimen. An increase in wear resistance of the over-coated
UNSM-treated specimen may be attributed to the formation of
plastically deformed layer with a thickness of about 4 mm. Also, the
corrugated surface structure of the over-coated UNSM-treated
specimen was responsible for small contact area between the
mating surfaces in relative motion. Liu and Xiong [33] have
studied earlier the effect of contact temperature rise during sliding
on the wear resistance of HSSs at elevated temperature. They have
found that the wear increases with the rise in contact temperature
which means that the resistance to wear results from the very
cause that is normally responsible for the increased wear and
seizure of common engineering materials. The over-coated
polished and over-coated UNSM-treated specimens tested for 3 h
was investigated by EDS in order to understand the chemical
composition of the fractured specimens. Typical corresponding
element distribution maps of the over-coated polished and over-
coated UNSM-treated specimens are shown in Fig. 14. It can be
seen that the over-coated AlCrN on the polished specimen showed
more spallation and low resistance to wear compared to that of
the over-coated AlCrN on the UNSM-treated specimen. EDS map-
ping revealed that the wear scar surface areas of both specimens
were covered by O, but the degree of oxidation on the over-coated
UNSM-treated specimen was a little bit higher (16.48 in wt%)
compared to that of the over-coated polished specimen (15.31 in
wt%). A small difference in oxidation between the over-coated
polished and over-coated UNSM-treated specimens might be
related to the contact temperature attained during the long-term
tribological tests. The oxidation which occurs on sliding surfaces
71
exposed to air or to oxygen-containing lubricants is of great
practical importance. When the oxide lm is coherent and well
bonded to the surface, it is benecial because it prevents metal-
metal contact where lowers friction and wear. When the oxide
lm is easily removed from the surface, oxidation is detrimental
because it promotes wear third-body abrasion by hard oxide
particles. Thus, an oxide layer may also play an important role in
controlling the tribological properties of the specimens. It has
been reported earlier that combination of abrasive and oxidative
wear was the main wear mechanism for the AlCrN coating in
sliding wear tests, in which the tribo-oxidation played an impor-
tant role [10,22,23]. As the friction coefcient of the over-coated
UNSM-treated specimen was lower than the over-coated on the
polished specimen and, thus, the temperature was also lower (see
Fig. 12). As a result, it was found that the UNSM technique has a
greater potential to improve the wear resistance and to reduce the
frictional heat of AlCrN coating.
4. Conclusions
In this study, the effects of a combination of UNSM technique
and AlCrN coating on the tribological properties of HSS were
investigated. It was found that the UNSM-treated and over-coated
UNSM-treated specimens had better friction and wear properties
compared to those of the polished and over-coated polished
specimens, respectively. The improvement may be ascribed to
the increased hardness and decrease in contact area resulting in
good adhesion. The corrugated surface structure reduced the
contact area of interacting surfaces resulting in low friction and
high resistance to wear. It was revealed that the deposited AlCrN
coating was benecial for improving the tribological properties of
HSS specimens. It is expected that the results of this study can be
applied to reduce the tensile loading of FBPs, which occurs during
the withdrawal from the punching grate and ejection of the inner
from waste.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Korea Institute of Industrial
Technology (KITECH) for partial nancial support. The authors
would also like to acknowledge DesignMecha Co. Ltd., for allowing
using the UNSM technique for preparation of the specimens
employed in this study.
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