Tribology of Coatings and Surface Layers

A special issue of Coatings (ISSN 2079-6412). This special issue belongs to the section "Tribology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2026 | Viewed by 438

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Kennametal GmbH, Altweiherstraße 27-31, 91320 Ebermannstadt, Germany
Interests: PVD; CVD; hard coatings; cutting tools; wear; material analysis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute (MMRI), Department of Mechanical Engineering, McMaster University, 230 Longwood Rd S, Hamilton, ON L8P 0A6, Canada
Interests: manufacturing; cutting tools; wear; tribology; analytics; simulation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Contact and interaction of surfaces is an everyday phenomenon, but with profound technical implications. Researchers and engineers have been working for decades to understand underlying mechanisms and provide better protection against wear and failure of steels and other technologically important materials. A wide range of surface modification and coating deposition methods has become available, including diffusion processes, galvanic methods, spraying techniques, PVD, and CVD, among others.

Several factors drive further research and innovation in this area. Among these are advancements in equipment technology that enable unprecedented manipulation of process parameters, unexplored material systems (such as multi-element systems), and, of course, increasing environmental concerns about current industrial processes. In fact, publications related to surface modification and coating deposition have grown almost exponentially, also driven by an increasing output from rapidly developing societies in the Asia Pacific region.

The present Special Issue of “Coatings” is looking for contributions in the following research areas:

  • Engineered surfaces, tailored to meet specific demands.
  • Wear-resistant coatings and surface layers obtained by processes such as surface diffusion, arc and sputter deposition, CVD, ALD, sol–gel processes, and galvanic methods, etc.
  • Coating and layer compositions with superior properties.
  • Study of degradation mechanisms by adhesion, abrasion, oxidation, etc.
  • Innovative testing that considers the role of lubrication and wear.
  • Analytics and simulation of layer systems and tribological contacts.

We are especially interested in connecting research and practical applications of novel solutions to challenging problems. I look forward to receiving numerous exciting contributions for our Special Issue, “Tribology of Coatings and Surface Layers.”

Dr. Joern Kohlscheen
Prof. Dr. Stephen C. Veldhuis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Coatings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • protective coatings
  • coating deposition processes
  • wear and lubrication
  • optimization of properties
  • analytics & modeling

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

25 pages, 24380 KB  
Article
Effect of Pulsed Substrate Bias on the Micromechanical Properties, Edge Integrity, and Machining Performance of Cathodic Arc AlTiN Coatings
by Victor Saciotto, Joern Kohlscheen and Stephen Veldhuis
Coatings 2026, 16(6), 639; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings16060639 - 25 May 2026
Viewed by 154
Abstract
Controlling deposition parameters is fundamental to obtaining the desired properties of cathodic arc physical vapor deposition (PVD) coatings. Achieving uniform coatings on tools with complex, sharp geometries remains a significant challenge due to localized ion flux concentration. Pulsing the substrate bias is an [...] Read more.
Controlling deposition parameters is fundamental to obtaining the desired properties of cathodic arc physical vapor deposition (PVD) coatings. Achieving uniform coatings on tools with complex, sharp geometries remains a significant challenge due to localized ion flux concentration. Pulsing the substrate bias is an effective way of controlling deposition energy. However, while widely used in cathodic arc PVD, the relationship between the actual bias waveform, coating integrity on sharp tool geometries, and resulting machining performance has not been systematically established. This study investigates the effect of pulsed bias duty cycle (20% to 90%) and frequency (1 to 20 kHz) on the microstructural evolution, residual stress state, and machining performance of AlTiN coated tools. Real-time oscilloscope measurements demonstrated that system inductance and capacitance significantly distort the ideal bias waveform. Microstructural analysis via Focused Ion Beam/Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB/SEM) cross-sectioning confirmed that all bias parameters generated a dense microstructure. While pulse frequency had no significant influence on micromechanical properties or residual stress states, the duty cycle was the dominant variable. High-energy deposition (90% duty cycle) increased hardness to 33.9 GPa but generated severe compressive residual stresses (−5.2 GPa). This extreme compressive stress led to catastrophic edge delamination on sharp solid carbide endmills. Conversely, a low-energy 20% duty cycle generated a coating with lower hardness (29.4 GPa) and a near-neutral stress state (0.5 GPa), effectively preserving the edge integrity. Unlike the endmills, the turning inserts maintained their edge integrity across all deposition conditions. During the high-speed (350 m/min) dry turning of AISI 304 stainless steel, all evaluated coatings exhibited comparable tool life and cutting forces. Wear progression was characterized by rake cratering, combined with abrasion and adhesion-induced attrition on the flank. The results indicate that tool life in this extreme environment is governed primarily by high-temperature thermo-chemical stability rather than initial room-temperature hardness. Lower-energy pulsed bias deposition therefore represents a robust strategy for coating a wide range of tool geometries, delivering equivalent high-speed machining performance while preventing stress-induced delamination on sharp features. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tribology of Coatings and Surface Layers)
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