Effect of tin based coatings doped with AL, Cr, C and si on the tribological behaviour of untreated and nitrided dievar and vanadis 23 steels

Vanadis 23 and Dievar, as new-generation steels, are widely used in forging dies owing to their superior mechanical properties. However, despite their high cost, their service life remains limited, necessitating improvement through surface engineering methods. In this study, to enhance the tribological performance of these steels, TiN-based nanocomposite coatings doped with Al, Cr, C, and Si were deposited by cathodic arc evaporation PVD in conjunction with a nitriding pretreatment. The specimens were examined by microstructural analysis, nanoindentation, scratch testing, and tribological measurements. The findings show that nitriding increases surface hardness and, in some coatings, favorably influences the coating–substrate interaction. The hardness of the base materials, initially 10–18 GPa, rose to 52–54 GPa with TiAlCrN coatings. Compared with uncoated Dievar steel, TiCN coatings reduced the coefficient of friction from 0.30 to 0.19–0.23 and increased wear resistance by approximately twentyfold, thereby markedly improving tribological performance. These results indicate that nitriding-assisted multicomponent coatings substantially enhance the surface hardness and wear performance of Dievar and Vanadis 23 steels.