Factors to Consider When Choosing Tool Coatings

Coatings play an important role in cutting operations, and if an inappropriate coating is chosen, it may result in a lower tool life than an uncoated tool, and sometimes even more machining problems. At present, we can choose PVD coating, CVD coating and composite coating of alternately coating PVD and CVD. But which characteristics should be measured and selected is a problem we must pay attention to.

Mainly have the following four characteristics：

1. Hardness

The high surface hardness brought about by the coating is one of the best ways to increase tool life. For example, TiCN coating (increased carbon content) is 33% harder than TiN coating.

2. Wear Resistance

Abrasion resistance refers to the ability of a coating to resist abrasion. During the production process, the cutting edge of the tool may be chipped or blunt due to various factors. The better the wear resistance, the longer the tool life.

3. Surface Smoothness

A finely smooth or regular-textured coating surface helps reduce cutting heat and enables the tool to be machined at higher cutting speeds, which can further avoid high-temperature fusion welding with the machined material, thereby improving the quality of the metal material.

4. Anti-adhesion

The anti-stick properties of the coating prevent or mitigate chemical reactions between the tool and the material being machined, preventing workpiece material from depositing on the tool.

Our company produces a variety of metal sputtering targets that can produce these high-quality coatings, such as titanium aluminum sputtering targets, nickel sputtering targets, and chromium sputtering targets. The selection of high-quality sputtering targets also has great benefits on the performance of the coating.