Features of Tribooxidation of the High-Entropy Coating (AlCrZrTiTa)N during Dry High-Speed Cutting

The high-entropy PVD coating (AlCrZrTiTa)N, characterized by its high hardness (50–60 GPa), elastic modulus above 300 MPa, and high heat resistance up to 1300 °C, is used for coating cutting tools operating under extreme metalworking conditions. The nanostructured monolayer 3 μm PVD coating was deposited on cutting plates in the hybrid arc deposition PVD coater. The coating had an amorphous nanocrystalline microstructure with a grain size of about 10–50 nm. The samples of SS 304 steel were investigated during dry high-speed (600 m/min) cutting. Raman spectroscopy was used to study the formation of tribooxides on the tool surface at the running-in stage of the cutting. After 130 m of cutting, Cr2O3 oxide appears on the wear surface while other elements are bound with N atoms. When the cutting length is increased to up to 260 m, oxide Al2O3 · ZrO2 (mullite) and amorphous oxides TaO2 and CrO2 are formed. The method EELFS made it possible to determine the amorphous nanocrystalline structure of triboceramics based on CrO2 and Al2O3 · ZrO2. The nearest atomic surrounding of Cr-Cr, O-O, and Cr-O and their subsequent comparison with the available literature data allow us to calculate the equilibrium lattice constants of the CrO2 unit cell, which are equal to (a, b) = 4.3754 Å and c = 0.5927. The triboceramic films on the base of non-equilibrium mullite Al2O3·ZrO2 have an amorphous structure. In the first coordination sphere, the interatomic distances of Zr-O and Al-O were 1.79 and 1.89 Å. An accelerated adaptive reaction to extreme external stimuli, at the very beginning of the running-in stage, is established. The tribological adaptability of the high-entropy ultra-fine amorphous nanocrystalline coating under extremely loaded dry high-speed cutting is based on non-equilibrium phenomena: the partial oxidation of fragments of the nitride and dynamic formation of protective tribooxides, which have a good thermal barrier and frictional properties. These factors interact synergistically and determine the life of the cutting tool.