Evaluating the Applicability of Advanced Physical Vapor Deposition Coatings through Characterization and Dry Machining

<div>This study investigates the characterization and dry machining performance of advanced physical vapor deposition (PVD) aluminum titanium nitride (AlTiN) and aluminum chromium titanium nitride (AlCrTiN) coatings deposited using three techniques: cathodic arc evaporation (CAE), high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS), and scalable pulse power plasma (S3p). The coatings were evaluated for thickness, microstructure, surface roughness, coefficient of friction (CoF), adhesion strength, and microhardness. Among the tested coatings, the S3p-deposited AlCrTiN showed the best performance, exhibiting the highest microhardness (40 GPa), the strongest adhesion (108 N), and the lowest CoF (0.25), along with a defect-free microstructure. Under the selected dry turning condition of 150 m/min cutting speed, 0.15 mm/rev feed rate, and 0.7 mm depth of cut, the S3p-deposited AlCrTiN coating achieved a maximum tool life of 10,800 mm, nearly three times higher than the CAE-deposited AlTiN coating. In contrast, CAE coatings showed comparatively lower hardness and weaker adhesion, with minimum values of 25 GPa and 68 N for C1, along with higher CoF values of 0.58–0.60. Furthermore, AlCrTiN coatings produced by HiPIMS and S3p provided 20–30% longer tool life than AlTiN coatings under identical cutting conditions, highlighting the importance of deposition technique.</div>