Coating characteristics

SHM offers original

MARWIN^® and ALWIN^® - extended collection of progressive nanocrystalline PVD coatings representing a revolutionary solution of hard and super hard wear-resistant coatings.

Pi300 coating unit

ORM coating unit

What is a nanocrystalline composite coating?

Nanocrystalline composite is a system formed by small monocrystals sized less than 10 nm (in case of MARWIN^® coatings it is (Ti_1-xAl_x)N/in case of ALWIN^® coatings it is (Cr_1-xAl_x)N), which are embedded in a suitable amorphous matrix (in case of both coatings MARWIN^® and ALWIN^® it is Si₃N₄) with thin inter-crystalline borders under 1 nm. We talk about thermodynamically stable materials, stable even from the grain size point of view. The grain size growth thus does not occur even under higher temperatures. Grain borders serve as an effective barrier against crack propagation – thus the high hardness of those materials is defined.

TEM – nanocomposite structure

What is a nanolayered structure

Nanolayers or superlattices are created by a system of very thin layers with different properties. Withal the thickness of the constituent layers is critical for resulting property of the coating and its optimum ranges between 3 and 10 nm depending on the coating element composition. Coatings with very high hardness and resistance against micro crack propagation are the result.

TEM – nanolayer structure

Combination of nanolayers and nanocomposites

Only by using  technologies with lateral rotating cathodes (coating units MARWIN^®, ORM and PI80 and 300)  it is possible to prepare, on an industrial scale, a combined coating thriving from all the advantages of both mentioned systems.

combination of nanocomposite and nanolayer structers

TripleCoating^®

TripleCoating^® stands for a specific structure of PVD coating, combining excellent adhesion layer, base tough and very hard layer and top very hard and thermally resistant layer formed by a nanocomposite. 

SEM TripleCoating

New applications

Coatings MARWIN^®, ALWIN^® and a combination with lubricant layers LUBRIK are targeted mainly at cutting, forming and molding tools made of cemented carbides (HM) and of high speed steels (HSS), possibly at molds or wear-resistant parts with high requirements on friction coefficient and abrasion resistance.

Their application on monolithic drills and mills, indexable inserts and reamers moves those tools to new fields of cutting conditions and machined materials. Thanks to their exceptional properties, coatings MARWIN^®, ALWIN^® and a combination with lubricant layers LUBRIK enable to use the coated tools far beyond the borders of cutting conditions, which limit other PVD coatings. Low friction coefficient, high wear-resistance and chemical stability are the main advantages of MARWIN^® and ALWIN^® coatings. Their extreme heat resistance is a starting condition for dry machining.

What advantages does MARWIN^® a ALWIN^® application bring?

• increase in tool life
• improvement in machined material quality
• increase in machining efficiency – increase in cutting speeds and feeds
• possibility of decreasing or avoiding coolants
• decrease in cutting forces – decrease in energy- strenuousness of machining
• smoothing of machine-tool running
• decrease in tool regrinding frequency

Quality = Technology = Control  → MARWIN^®, ALWIN^® and a combination of lubricant layers LUBRIK  

Nanostructured coatings MARWIN^®, ALWIN^® and a combination with lubricant layers LUBRIK are prepared by unique patented technologies, based on low voltage arc evaporation of materials from rotating cylindrical electrodes.

Both systems have several advantages:

• Smooth coating surface with minimized content of macroparticles is achieved thanks to fast motion of cathode spot, enabled by high magnetic field and electrode rotation as well as by even erosion of evaporated targets.
• Preparation of nanocomposite coatings is possible thanks to high plasma ionization with high magnetic field intensity  formation of two phases, e.g. nc-(Ti_1-xAl_x)N/a-Si₃N₄ or nc-TiN/a- Si₃N₄.
• Programmable stoichiometry of coatings enables a preparation of a gradient coating with variable composition and thus a combination of different types of coatings, that all even without an exchange of targets during the coating process.
• Thanks to an optimal utilization of chamber space with cylindrical rotating electrodes and synchronization of tools rotation it is possible to create multi- or nano- layered structures in one process. Owing to the cylindrical shape of the target a maximal effective width – d x π is reached.

Together with all the advantages a fully automated control of the coating process and a sophisticated system of tool cleaning before the actual coating process ensures a highly reproducible preparation of coatings MARWIN^®, ALWIN^® and a combination with lubricant layers LUBRIK. One part of the whole technology is a subsequent coating quality control, which includes all modern methods of analyzing of mechanical properties of hard thin coatings:

• hardness analysis – microindentation method, with concurrent measurement of Vickers diamond point indentation depth
• adhesion analysis – scratch test and Rockwell test
• thickness analysis – evaluation of R_a and R_max on polished reference samples
• optical evaluation of coating surface – based on etalons