The structure and tribological properties of the nitride coatings (Zr–Ti–Nb)N, (Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb)N,
and (Zr–Ti-Cr–Nb–Si)N, f abricated by vacuum arc deposition have been investigated. Their ele-
mental composition and crystal structure are characterized by EDS and SEM analyses, XPS,
and X-ray diffraction. The multicomponent (Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb–Si)N and (Zr–Ti–Nb)N coatings are
f ound to be a simple f ace-centered cubic (f cc) solid solution. For the coatings without Si, the struc-
ture is mainly composed of the TiN f cc phase and Cr2N trigonal modification. The (Zr–Ti–Nb)N
and (Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb)N coatings provided the best adhesive strength in different conditions. The
(Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb–Si)N coatings exhibited the worst adhesive strength, which may be attributed to
the relative low hardness
