Effect of substrate rotational speed during deposition on the microstructure,mechanical and tribological properties of a-C:Ta coatings

Rotational speed has an important influence on the performance of coating materials. The a-C:Ta composite coatings were prepared by controlling the substrate rotational speed during deposition process using PVD technique. The results showed that the coating transformed from dense structure to columnar structure. Due to the changes of deposition time and the vapor incident angle of the sputtering ions, the sp² hybrid structure increased and the C–Ta bonds contents decreased as a function of the rotational speed, which led to the improvement of adhesion force. The average friction coefficient of the composite coatings did not fluctuate significantly for the amorphous carbon matrix and the transfer films formed during friction, while the wear rates were gradually increased. The sample at 0.5 rpm possessed the lowest wear rate, which was mainly associated with the cooperative behavior of the dense structure and the formation of TaC nanoclusters in the composite coating.     

Effect of self-developed graphene lubricant on tribological behaviour of silicon carbide/silicon nitride interface

The research presented in this paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of different surface roughness and lubrication conditions on the interfacial tribological properties between silicon carbide (SiC) and silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) ceramics, particularly for providing insight into the mechanisms of how graphene reduces the friction and wear rate. The worn groove topography and surface composition were characterised in detail with 3D laser measuring microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The tribological test results on the UMT-TriboLab show that a smooth initial surface is more likely to obtain a low friction coefficient and wear rate under water lubrication. The proper initial surface roughness for SiC and Si₃N₄ ceramics is approximately Ra 10?nm, and it will be lower in an alcohol or graphene aqueous solution. A large load does not worsen the tribological behaviour of a Si₃N₄ ball sliding against a SiC disk, and it reduces the friction coefficient and wear rate. Among the five lubrication states of dry friction, dry graphene lubrication, water lubrication, graphene solution lubrication, and self-developed graphene lubrication, the self-developed graphene lubricant can exhibit an ultra-low friction coefficient of 0.009 and ultra-low wear rate of 1.69?×?10^?7?mm³/N·m. The excellent tribological property of the graphene-coated ceramic surface helps the prepared lubricant to decrease the friction coefficient effectively. Furthermore, the graphene film can protect the SiC from being oxidised by water under the tribo-activated action, and therefore, lead to ultra-low wear rate under low friction condition. Alcohol improves the tribological property of the self-developed graphene lubricant, mainly because of the good wettability between graphene and ethanol. The self-developed graphene lubricant can be applied in water-lubricated ceramic bearings and motorised precision spindles.     

Structures and tribological performances of PEEK (poly-ether-ether-ketone)-based coatings designed for tribological application

Driven by economical and ecological reasons, thermoplastic-based coatings become a potential solution for anti-wear purpose. Two coating design concepts, flame spraying and printing PEEK (poly-ether-ether-ketone)-based coatings on Al substrate, were introduced in this paper. An amorphous PEEK coating was obtained by these two techniques. After being annealed, the coating presents a semi-crystalline structure. The friction and wear behaviors of PEEK-based coatings were investigated by means of ball-on-disc tests. The results show that PEEK coatings exhibit an excellent tribological performance with a relatively low coefficient of friction and wear rate. The semi-crystalline PEEK coating exhibits a lower friction coefficient and wear rate than the amorphous one. The additions of micron-sized particles such as SiC and graphite in PEEK coating can improve significantly the coating wear resistance.     

A comparative investigation of the tribological behavior and scratch response of polyester powder coatings filled with different solid lubricants

Employing coatings is one of the most effective methods to reduce friction and protect contacting surfaces from wear. The deposition of protective coatings from thermosetting polymer powders has witnessed a rapid growth as an ecological, economic and energy efficient technology. During the last few decades, many new deposition techniques have been developed, and more and more tribological coatings have been made available. In this context, our present investigation tried, firstly to analyze the friction and wear behavior of electrostatically sprayed polyester powder coatings deposited on an aluminum substrate and secondly to focus on the response of these thermosetting coatings to micromechanical deformation under scratch test loading. The effect of graphite and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) solid lubricant fillers on the friction and wear behavior of polyester composite coatings was evaluated using a reciprocating tribometer under dry friction condition. The experimental findings show that the additions of graphite or hBN are effective in enhancing the wear life of polyester powder coatings. Meanwhile, under the same sliding conditions, the wear results revealed that the polyester coating filled with only 10 wt.% of graphite has a higher anti-wear ability compared to the polyester coating filled with the same weight fraction of hBN. Thus, the two reinforcing polyester matrix fillers play an important role in reducing the plastic deformation of the coatings and enhance the formation of thick third body between the sliding parts as the fraction of solid lubricant increases from 0 wt.% to 10 wt.%. From the scratch analyses, we deduced that coatings scratch behavior is severely affected by the kind and amount of fillers inside the polyester matrix. In fact, the best friction characteristic and scratch resistance are observed in the case of polyester coatings filled with very low amount of hBN (5 wt.%).     

Synthesis of a high-entropy (TiVCrMo)3AlC2 MAX and its tribological properties in a wide temperature range

A novel high-entropy (TiVCrMo)₃AlC₂ MAX with a solid solution of Ti, V, Cr, and Mo atoms in its lattice is synthesized. The tribological properties as well as the wear mechanism of the high-entropy MAX against a Si₃N₄ counterpart in a wide temperature range from room temperature to 800 ºC in the air are systematically studied. Combined with the experimental observations and the theoretical simulations, the effects of high-entropy structure on the tribological behaviors of the (TiVCrMo)₃AlC₂ MAX are illuminated. Benefited from the high-entropy structure, the (TiVCrMo)₃AlC₂ MAX presents an improved hardness and oxidation resistance, which contributes to a dry-sliding tribological behavior in the temperature window of R.T.–600 °C. While further increasing the operating temperature to 800 °C, hydrodynamic lubrication emerges, which boosts the lubricity in the high-entropy (TiVCrMo)₃AlC₂ MAX.     

Influence of substrate treatment on the tribological properties of DLC coatings

Due to the very thin nature of DLC coatings, the substrate must carry the main part of the applied load. If the substrate has insufficient strength to carry the contact load and thus support the coating, plastic deformation will occur, leading to premature failure of the coating. The challenge to improve the properties of hard DLC coatings by thermo-chemical pre-treatment of the substrate has gained much attention in recent years, leading to a new method called duplex treatment. In the present study, a hydrogen-free hard carbon coating deposited on plasma nitrided AISI 4140 steel was investigated with respect to microhardness, residual stress, scratch adhesion and dry sliding wear resistance. The pin-on-disc results showed that nitriding of the substrate improves the wear resistance of the hydrogen-free hard carbon coating as compared to the hardened substrate. The improvement can be related to the increased load carrying capacity of the steel substrate and to improved coating to substrate adhesion.     

Synthesis,microstructure and mechanical properties of high-entropy (VNbTaMoW)C5 ceramics

High-entropy ceramics (HEC) with a fixed composition of (VNbTaMoW)C₅ were prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) from 1500 °C to 2200 °C. XRD, TEM, HRTEM, SAED and EDX were used to investigate effects of the sintering temperatures on compositional homogeneity, constituent phases and microstructure of the HECs. The results showed that single-phase HEC formed at a temperature as low as 1600 °C while ultimate elemental distribution homogeneity could be obtained at 2200 °C. Elemental distribution homogenization was accompanied by microstructural coarsening and oxide impurities aggregating at grain boundaries as temperature increased. SPS at 1900 °C for 12 min could yield uniform HECs (VNbTaMoW)C₅ with Vickers hardness, nanohardness, fracture toughness and Young’s modulus reaching 19.6 GPa, 29.7 GPa, 5.4 MPa m^1/2 and 551 GPa, respectively. The resultant HECs showed excellent wear resistance when coupled with WC at room temperature.     

The tribological performance of TiN,WC/C and DLC coatings measured by the four-ball test

An innovative approach to improving the wear resistance and load-carrying capacity of surfaces is by development of novel systems featuring coating treatment. Evaluation of the tribological performance of three physical vapor deposition (PVD) coatings, namely, TiN, WC/C, and DLC (diamond-like carbon), is necessary to determine their suitability as coatings for high-speed and heavy-duty power-transmitting gears. The uncoated and coated steel balls were subjected to four-ball tests under lubricated conditions. An optical microscope and a scanning electron microscope were used to observe wear scars, and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis was performed to determine the chemical compositions of the materials; these methods were also used to analyze the wear mechanisms. The wear performance of the three coatings was compared, and a four-ball method extreme pressure test was performed to determine the last nonseizure load of each tribo-pair. The WC/C and DLC coatings showed excellent tribological performance under high contact pressures and thermal loads, and the benefits of these coatings increased with decreasing performance of the lubricating medium. Therefore, WC/C and DLC coatings are suitable for application in high-speed and heavy-duty gears. Oxidation wear and peeling, fatigue pitting, and adhesive transfer are the main coating failure modes of the TiN, WC/C, and DLC coatings, respectively.     

Influence of temperature and concentration on tribological properties of silicon nitride in glycerol aqueous solution

Friction and wear behaviors of self-mated Si₃N₄ in glycerol aqueous were investigated by varying the temperature (30 °C, 50 °C, and 70 °C) and concentration (pure water, 5 vol%, 20 vol%, and 50 vol%) of glycerol aqueous solution. Friction tests were conducted on a ball-on-disk apparatus. Normal load and sliding velocity were fixed at 30 N and 0.5 m/s, separately. After each tests, friction coefficients and wear rates were measured to evaluate friction and wear behavior. The results showed that the period of running-in process reduces with the increase of concentration and decrease of temperature. Increase of temperature could intensify wear behavior, and when concentration is larger than 20 vol%, wear rate of glycerol aqueous solution is one order less than that of pure water. Our findings could also guide for the use of glycerol aqueous solution as lubricant at different temperature. At 30 °C, the higher the concentration was, the smaller wear volume and total wear rate were. However, at 50 °C and 70 °C, total wear rates of disk were the largest when concentration is 5 vol%, a concentration of glycerol larger than 20 vol% must be added into water to reduce the wear rate. Wear regimes at different conditions were also given in this paper based on lubrication state number.     

Microstructural,mechanical and tribological properties of nanostructured YSZ coatings produced with different APS process parameters

Plasma sprayed ceramic coatings can be used in turbine engines as thermal barrier or abradable coatings, in order to improve the durability of the components as well as the efficiency. The presence of nanostructures, deriving from partial melting of agglomerated nanostructured particles, represents an interesting technological solution in order to improve their functional characteristics. In this work nanostructured yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) coatings were deposited by air plasma spraying (APS). The influence of the main process parameters on their microstructural, mechanical and tribological properties was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), indentation techniques at micro- and nano-scale and wear tests, respectively. Their porous microstructure was composed of well melted overlapped splats and partially melted nanostructured areas. This bimodal microstructure led to a bimodal distribution of the mechanical properties. An increase of plasma power and spraying distance was able to produce denser coatings, with lower content of embedded nanostructures, which exhibited higher elastic modulus and hardness as well as lower wear rate.     

Nanoindentation and tribology of a (Hf-Ta-Zr-Nb-Ti)C high-entropy carbide

A (Hf-Ta-Zr-Nb-Ti)C high-entropy carbide was prepared by ball milling and a two-step Spark Plasma Sintering process, achieving a single-phase ceramic sample with a high relative density of 99.4 %. The wear resistance of the sample was measured by tribology and micro-scale mechanical behaviour was studied by nanoindentation on both the non-deformed and worn surfaces. Grains and the vicinity of grain boundaries exhibited high hardness values of 38.5 ± 0.5 GPa and 35.5 ± 1.0 GPa with similar Young’s moduli of 562 ± 11 GPa and 547 ± 16 GPa, respectively. The dominant wear mechanism was mechanical wear with limited grain pull-out and fracture, and with a localized and thin tribo-layer formation. The specific wear rate exhibited an increase with the increasing load from 2.53·10^?6 mm³/Nm at 5 N to 9.03·10^?6 mm³/Nm at 50 N. This was correlated to the decrease of nanohardness of the worn surfaces with increasing wear load, which is attributed to the increased number of microcracks.     

Investigation of the tribological and biomechanical properties of CrAlTiN and CrN/NbN coatings on SST 304

This study examines the influence of thin layer coatings of CrAlTiN and CrN/NbN, deposited via physical vapor, on the biocompatibility, mechanical, tribological, and corrosion properties of stainless steel 304. The microstructure and morphology of the thin CrAlTiN and CrN/NbN layers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), EDX, and X-ray diffraction. The pin on disc wear test was performed on bare and metal-nitride coated SST 304 under a 15 N load at 60 rpm and showed that the wear rates of the thin CrAlTiN and CrN/NbN film coatings were lower than the bare substrate wear ratio. The coefficients of friction (COFs) attained were 0.64, 0.5, and 0.55 for the bare substrate, CrN/NbN coating, and CrAlTiN coating, respectively. Nano indentation tests were also performed on CrAlTiN-coated and CrN/NbN-coated SST 304. The nanohardnesses and Young's moduli of the coated substrates were 28 GPa and 390 GPa (CrN/NbN-coated) and 33 GPa and 450 GPa (CrA1TiN-coated), respectively. For comparison, the nanohardness and Young's modulus of the uncoated substrate were 4.8 GPa and 185 GPa, respectively. Corrosion tests were conducted, and the behaviors of the bare and metal nitride-deposited substrates were studied in CaCl₂ for seven days. The corrosion Tafel test results showed that the metal-nitride coatings offer proper corrosion resistance and can protect the substrate against penetration of CaCl₂ electrolyte. The CrN/NbN-coated substrates showed better corrosion resistance compared to the CrAlTiN-coated ones. In evaluating the biocompatibility of the CrAlTiN and CrN/NbN coatings, the human cell line MDA-MB-231 was found to attach and proliferate well on the surfaces of the two coatings.     

Influence of sintering pressure on the microstructure and tribological properties of low temperature fast sintered hot-pressed Y-TZP

Contrarily to conventional sintering (CS) method where longer cycles and high temperature (1400–1500?°C) are applied to sinter yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystalline (Y-TZP) ceramics, this work presents a faster and low temperature (1175?°C) way through hot pressing (HP) to produce full densified zirconia with good mechanical and tribological properties. This work is concerned with the influence of sintering pressure on the microstructure and tribological properties of hot-pressed Y-TZP. For this purpose, four sintering pressures 5, 20, 60 and 100?MPa were tested. The wear tests were carried out by reciprocating ball-on-plate as a simplified test for tooth-to-restorative material contact under 37?°C using artificial saliva to mimic oral conditions. The results demonstrated that density, hardness and tribological properties are strongly influenced by the sintering pressure, namely an improvement with pressure increase was achieved. The highest density, hardness values and wear resistance were achieved for Y-TZP samples produced at P?=?100?MPa. Furthermore, it was revealed that a smaller grain size for Z100 samples (full densification condition) was achieved comparatively to conventional-sintered Y-TZP. This work proves that it is possible to produce dense Y-TZP materials under low sintering temperature and faster cycles with reduced grain size without compromise mechanical and tribological properties.     

具有对称与不对称封头的聚醚型汽车压缩机润滑油性能对比研究

对比研究了具有对称和不对称封头的两类聚醚型润滑油的性能。结果表明,两类聚醚型压缩机润滑油吸湿性小,两者的相溶性好;聚醚型润滑油封头率越高,吸湿性越小;相比而言,具有不对称封头的聚醚型润滑油比具有对称封头的吸湿性低,润滑性好。这为今后聚醚型润滑油向提高封头率以及聚醚的不对称封头方向发展提供参考。     

Effect of hBN addition on the fabrication,mechanical and tribological properties of Sialon materials

This work aims to investigate the effect of hBN on the friction and wear resistance of Sialon composite. Sialon and its composite with 10 wt% hBN were fabricated by SPS sintering. The effect of hBN additive on the phase composition, microstructure, densification behavior, mechanical and dry sliding tribological properties of Sialon material was studied. Being sintered at 1600 °C for 10 min, compared to monolithic Sialon, Sialon-hBN composite has more refined β-Sialon grains with smaller aspect ratios and slightly declined relative density. The hardness of the Sialon-hBN composite was reduced due to the weak bonding between Sialon and hBN grains. Nevertheless, its fracture toughness increased ascribing to the toughening mechanisms, including crack deflection and crack bridging. hBN had an essential impact on the tribological performances of the composite due to its lower friction coefficient and good lubrication action. Under the same densification level (i.e., with a relative density of around 97.5%), the friction and wear resistance of Sialon-hBN composite were much better than monolithic Sialon. The main wear mechanisms were tribolayer formation, oxidized wear, and abrasive wear.     

Effects of Ti2SnC on the mechanical properties and tribological properties of copper/graphite composites

Copper/graphite composites and copper/graphite/Ti₂SnC composites were fabricated through the process of ball-milling, pressing and sintering. The effects of Ti₂SnC as the second lubrication component on the mechanical properties, wear resistance and lubrication properties of copper/graphite composites were studied in this paper. The results showed that copper/graphite/Ti₂SnC composites had better hardness, impact toughness, wear resistance and lubrication performance than copper/graphite composites. The optimum values of hardness, impact toughness, friction coefficient and wear rate of copper/graphite/Ti₂SnC composites were, respectively, 56 HSD, 1.8J/cm², 0.15, 9.126 × 10^?6 mm³/N·m, while these were only 45 HSD, 1.2 J/cm², 0.17, 3.534 × 10^?4 mm³/N·m of copper/graphite composites.     

Influence of hBN content on mechanical and tribological properties of Si3N4/BN ceramic composites

Silicon nitride materials containing 1–5 wt% of hexagonal boron nitride (micro-sized or nano-sized) were prepared by hot-isostatic pressing at 1700 °C for 3 h. Effect of hBN content on microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties has been investigated. As expected, the increase of hBN content resulted in a sharp decrease of hardness, elastic modulus and bending strength of Si₃N₄/BN composites. In addition, the fracture toughness of Si₃N₄/micro BN composites was enhanced comparing to monolithic Si₃N₄ because of toughening mechanisms in the form of crack deflection, crack branching and pullout of large BN platelets. The friction coefficient was not influenced by BN addition to Si₃N₄/BN ceramics. An improvement of wear resistance (one order of magnitude) was observed when the micro hBN powder was added to Si₃N₄ matrix. Mechanical wear (micro-failure) and humidity-driven tribochemical reaction were found as main wear mechanisms in all studied materials.     

Microstructure,mechanical, tribological,and oxidizing properties of AlCrSiN/AlCrVN/AlCrNbN multilayer coatings with different modulated thicknesses

Multilayer structure design is one of the most promising methods for improving the comprehensive performance of AlCrN-based hard coatings applied to cutting tools. In this study, four types of AlCrSiN/AlCrVN/AlCrNbN multilayer coatings, with different modulated thicknesses, were deposited to investigate their microstructure, mechanical, tribological, and oxidizing properties. All multilayer coatings exhibited grain growth along the crystallographic plane of (200) with a NaCl-type face-centered cubic (FCC) structure. The results show that, as the modulation thickness decreases from ～35 nm to ～10 nm, (1) the grain refinement effect is increasingly evident; (2) all multilayer coatings show a hardness of >30 GPa and an elastic modulus of >300 GPa. Both the ability to resist elastic strain to failure and the plastic deformation of multilayer coatings increase. In addition, their resistance to cracking reduces; (3) the wear rates of these multilayer coatings reduce successively from 1.78 × 10^?16 m³ N^?1 m^?1 to 7.7 × 10^?17 m³ N^?1 m^?1. This is attributed to an increase in self-lubricating VO_x and a decrease in adhesives from the counterparts; (4) the best high-temperature oxidation resistance was obtained for the multilayer coating with a modulated thickness of ～15 nm.     

Growth,mechanical properties,and tribological performance of TiAlN/NbN and NbN/TiAlN bilayer coatings

Three different coatings, namely TiAlN, TiAlN (external)/NbN (internal) and NbN (external)/TiAlN (internal), were deposited on cemented carbides by arc ion plating. The comparative investigation conducted in this study elucidates the effect of the NbN layer and coating systems on the growth, mechanical properties, and tribological performance of the coatings. The results showed that the surface of the TiAlN and TiAlN/NbN coatings was smoother when TiAlN served as the external layer. The NbN/TiAlN coating, wherein NbN formed the external layer, had a much rougher but more symmetrical surface. With the introduction of the NbN layer, the increased micro stress induced a lower adhesion strength in the TiAlN/NbN and NbN/TiAlN coatings. The TiAlN/NbN and NbN/TiAlN coatings exhibited higher hardness and hardness/effective elastic modulus (H/E*). During the friction test, when the temperature was elevated to 700 °C, the tribological performance of the monolayer TiAlN coating was the lowest because of the TiO₂-induced breakage of the dense tribo-oxide film. The NbN layer participated in the formation of a NbO_x film at elevated temperatures, which was responsible for the high tribological performance of the two bilayer coatings. When the NbN layer was on the outermost layer and in direct contact with the elevated temperature atmosphere, the NbN/TiAlN coating generated a tribo-oxide film with high integrity, and its coefficient of friction decreased by 27% of that at room temperature. Therefore, the NbN/TiAlN coating exhibited the highest wear resistance at 700 °C.     

Optimization of microstructure and properties of composite coatings by laser cladding on titanium alloy

Recently, the current technological progress in developing laser cladding technology has brought new approaches in surface modification of titanium alloys. Herein, composite coatings were fabricated by the laser cladding process on Ti811 alloys using a coaxial powder feeding method. A comprehensive study was performed on the laser energy density (L_ed) and CeO₂ content on the structure distribution, microhardness and tribological properties of the coatings. In addition, the growth mechanism of the TiC–TiB₂ structure was studied based on the Bramfitt two-dimensional lattice mismatch theory. The results indicated that the phase composition of the coating mainly contained TiC, TiB₂, Ti₂Ni, and α-Ti. The optimized coating contributed to uniform microstructure distribution and fine grain size when L_ed was 45 J/mm² and the CeO₂ content was 2 wt%, playing an important role in the best forming quality and properties. Besides, the high matching degree of an interface between TiC (111) and TiB₂ (0001) contributed to the TiC–TiB₂ composite structure, which positively influenced the grain size and distribution of TiC. The microhardness and wear resistance of the 2Ce coating was dramatically enhanced due to the fine grain strengthening and dispersion strengthening effects of CeO₂, contributing directly to generate a high average hardness of 811.67 HV_0.5 with a lower friction coefficient.