Key words: Mechanics, energy, wear resistance, wear, Calowear, Tribology.

Abstract: One of the most commonly used tribological thin-film coatings is Chromium Nitride (CrN), typically deposited by Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) process. Examples of current applications of this coating include cutting and forming tools: ICE piston ring, hydrodynamic pumps, etc. In selecting coating for tribological applications, one of the critical parameter is the specific wear rate κ c of the coating. Micro-scale abrasion testing has been used to evaluate the specific wear rate κ c of chromium-nitride (CrNx) with nanoscale structure coatings on identical a DIN 1.4301 steel substrates. Two different abrasives, SiC and diamond were used. The hardness of the films was found to be in the range of 8-38 GPa. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the abrasion resistance of hard coatings, and high abrasive wear resistance Ωc = (1/κ c ) of these coatings are compared. The results were compared to those of a chromium nitride reference coating. The results obtained show an excellent correlation between coating hardness and abrasion resistance. The micro-abrasion testing employed offers a simple and inexpensive method for pre-selecting and ranking of coating materials for tribological applications.