Results of the Knoop hardness test are shown in
Figure 2. "e highest hardness was observed in
the nanocomposite, possibly due to the presence
of hard tungsten-, niobium- and chromium-based
elements [11]. An increase in hardness in the 560
AS coating was observed because of the presence of
the martensite phase [12], while for the half-carbon
coating, the lowest microhardness was observed
because of the absence of alloying elements and the
amount of oxides formed [13.14], which produces a
coating not suitable for applications where the part
will be subjected to wear, i.e., recommended for
applications in cases of dimensional recovery.