A new X-ray method for residual stress evaluation in coatings

Transition metal nitride coatings films such as TiN or ZrN have been extensively studied for industrial applications. Residual stresses of the coatings generally affect the mechanical behaviour and the corrosion resistance and hence the performance of the product. The development of new, fast and simple methods for the assessment of residual stresses is then of great importance for coating technologies. In this paper a new method for X-ray residual stress calculation is proposed. T h s method is based on the analysis of the Debye rings obtained with 2D detectors. In particular, preliminary results concerning ZrN decorative coatings that are exposed to hghly corrosive environments are shown. For the structural, morphological and mechanical characterisation of the ZrN coatings, glancing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) experiments, nanoindentation, and optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses were performed.