• • At 9 Gs target magnetic field intensity, Cr coatings achieved a maximum hardness of 470.84 HV0.05, a friction coefficient of 0.42, and a wear volume of 1.06×10−7 mm3/(N·m), representing the optimal mechanical performance window; deviations to 3 or 12 Gs shifted the wear mechanism to fatigue-dominated failure, reducing service life in sliding contact applications.
• • Coating adhesion strength peaked at 40.3 N at 9 Gs, a critical threshold for load-bearing aerospace and automotive components where interfacial delamination under cyclic stress is the primary failure mode; lower field strengths produced insufficient bonding, while higher strengths degraded it.
• • Corrosion resistance was maximized at 9 Gs with a corrosion potential of 76.1 mV and a corrosion current density of 7.57×10−10 A/cm2, a reduction of several orders of magnitude compared to the 3 Gs baseline, directly extending the service interval for 40CrNi steel components exposed to aggressive electrolytes.
• • Arc spot motion transitioned from random, coarse, light-cluster-like patterns at 3 Gs to refined, rotating, contracting-expanding arcs at 9 Gs, which reduced macroparticle emission and grain size; this controllability enables reproducible industrial-scale deposition with fewer surface defects and higher deposition rates.