Surface Damage and Wear Mechanisms of Amorphous Carbon Coatings under Boundary Lubrication Conditions

Abstract

A class of amorphous carbon coatings with excellent tribological properties under dry conditions was recently developed at Argonne National Laboratory. In the present study, the performance of three variations of such coatings under the boundary lubrication regime was evaluated, with particular focus on the coating surface damage and mechanical aspect of the wear mechanisms of the coated surfaces. The evaluation employed ball on flat contact geometry in reciprocating sliding motion and three different lubricants. Compared with the uncoated steel surface, the three variations of the coatings evaluated significantly reduced the amount of wear. The surface damage in the coatings consisted primarily of localised crack formation at the local asperity points of contact typical of boundary lubrication regime. The cracks propagated over time, resulting in eventual removal of coating material.

Investigation of Friction and Wear Performance of Diamond Coating under Si3N4 Friction Pair

“…FIELD et al [11] investigated the friction properties of diamond-like carbon (DLC) films prepared through an unbalanced magnetron sputtering system under loads of 20 N, 40 N, 60 N, 80 N, and 100 N. Chu et al [12] analyzed the friction interface of DLC films ground with different ceramic pairs (Si3N4, SiC, WC, ZrO2, and SiO2). AJAYI et al [13] investigated the friction properties of DLC films with Si doping under different conditions; Shen Bin et al [14,15] investigated and compared the properties of conventional diamond coatings and ultrafinegrained diamond coatings on cemented carbide under different lubrication conditions (dry friction and water lubrication) using reciprocating ball-disk friction and wear tester. The above results suggest that the friction properties of diamond coatings strongly depend on several conditions, aspects.…”