AlTiN: The aluminium-titanium-nitride coating
What is the difference between the AlTiN and TiAlN coating? Learn this and the properties and advantages of the AlTiN coating in this article.
General information about AlTiN coating
The aluminium-titanium-nitride coating (AlTiN), is a chemical compound of the three elements aluminum, titanium, and nitrogen. The coating thickness is between 1-4 micrometers (μm).
The special feature of the AlTiN coating is the very high resistance to heat and oxidation. This is partly due to the nano hardness of 38 Gigapascal (GPa). As a result, it follows that the coating system despite a higher cutting speed and a higher cutting temperature remains stable. Compared to uncoated tools, AlTiN coating, depending on the application, increase an up to fourteen times longer service life.
For which applications is AlTiN coating suitable?
The highly aluminium-containing coating is very well suited for precision tools, that cut hard materials like e.g. steel (N/mm²) <1,300, stainless steel and cast iron.
The maximum application temperature is 900° Celcius (approx. 1,650° Fahrenheit) and has compared to the TiN coating a 300° Celcius higher resistance to heat.
Cooling is not mandatory. In general, however, cooling additionally increases the service life of the tool.
As mentioned in TiAlN coating in general it should be noted that both the coating and the tool steel must be suitable for the application in hard materials. That's why we have coated special drills made of tungsten-carbide with AlTiN.
Drilling with the RUKO weld point drill Fast Cut
When drilling with the weld point drill very high warm hardness and cutting speed are created. That's why we use AlTiN on weld point drill Fast Cut Tungsten-carbide and Spotle Drill Tungsten-carbide.
Due to the AlTiN coating on tungsten-carbide the following areas of application apply:
- good suited for clean and burr-free milling of welding spots and thin-walled work pieces without centering
- extreme high precision
- applicable for sheet steel, sheet brass, sheet aluminium, sheet zinc, sheet copper, plastic sheets
In the video we have drilled with the weld point drill Fast Cut in sheet steel with hardened welds using a hand drill.
Comparison of TiAlN and AlTiN
| TiAlN | AlTiN | |
|---|---|---|
| Increase of service life (compared to uncoated tools) | depending on application, up to ten times longer | depending on application, up to fourteen times longer |
| Cutting speed | high | very high |
| Application | hard materials (steel (N/mm²) <1,100, stainless steel) | very hard materials (steel (N/mm²) <1,300, stainless steel) |
| Cooling | not mandatory | not mandatory |
| Nano hardness | 35 Gigapascal (GPa) | 38 Gigapascal (GPa) |
| Coat thickness | 1-4 μm | 1-4 μm |
| Coefficient of friction | 0,5 μ | 0,7 μ |
| Max. temperature | 800°C | 900°C |
Compared to the TiAlN coating, AlTiN shows better properties especially in the application in very hard material. This is because AlTiN has a higher nano hardness and thus allowing higher cutting speed and application temperatures.
Summary
- Depending on application, up to fourteen times longer service life
- Very high resistance to heat and oxidation
- Chemical compound of aluminum , titanium und nitrogen
- Nano hardness: up to 38 GPa
- Coat thickness: 1-4 μm
- Coefficient of friction: 0.7 μ
- Temperature: 900 °C
- Application: steel (N/mm²) < 1,300, stainless steel
- Cooling not mandatory