Coating thickness effects on initial wear of nitrogen-doped amorphous carbon in nano-scale sliding contact: Part I—in situ examination

This paper, the first of a two-part series, presents the empirical data obtained from in situ examination on the generation of wear particles on carbon nitride coatings by a spherical diamond counter-face during repeated sliding contacts. In particular, the effect of coating thickness, varying from 1 to 500 nm, on the generation of wear particles was examined.Based on the in situ examination, the shape transition maps for generated wear particles were obtained for carbon nitride coatings of various thickness. The results show that the critical number of friction cycles, Nc, for the transition from “no observable wear particles” to “wear particle generation” generally increased with increasing coating thickness. It was noted that up to 20 friction cycles, the maximum Hertzian contact pressure, P_max, for “no observable wear particles” regime can be increased from 1.39Y to 1.53Y if silicon was coated with carbon nitride coating thicker than 10 nm, where Y is defined as the yield strength of silicon.     

Tribological behaviour of duplex treated Ti–6Al–4V: combining nitrogen PSII with a DLC coating

The chemical structure and tribological behaviour of Ti–6Al–4V plasma source ion implanted with nitrogen then DLC-coated in an acetylene plus hydrogen-glow discharge (bias voltage −10 to −30 kV) were investigated. The as-modified samples have a TiN/H:DLC multilayer architecture (coating resistivity 1.6×10⁹ to 2.4×10¹¹ Ω/cm) and exhibit higher hardness, especially at low loads or plastic penetrations in the order of deposition bias voltage −10, −20 and −30 kV. At a lower contact load (1 N) and higher sliding speed (0.05 m/s), frictional properties in most cases improved, as did wear properties. At a higher contact load (5 N) and lower sliding speed (0.04 m/s), friction showed almost no improvement, and wear properties deteriorated. When the material of the counterbody was then changed from AISI 52100 to Ti–6Al–4V modified as the disc (contact load 5 N unchanged, sliding speed decreased), the friction coefficient decreased (but showed no improvement compared with the unmodified sample), while wear properties deteriorated further, and wear was changed from just the disc to both disc and ball, abrasive and adhesive dominated. Transfer films, mainly made up of wear debris transferred from the disc wear surfaces, were formed on the wear scars of the counterbodies. The deterioration of wear properties of the modified samples at the higher contact load is considered to be caused by the “thin ice” effect.     

New cylinder liner surfaces for low oil consumption

Anticipated emission legislation and reduced fuel consumption are the main driving forces when developing new engines. Optimization of the active surfaces in the piston system is one possible way to meet the above demands. In this study the effects of surface topography and texture direction of the ring/liner contact on oil film thickness and friction were simulated and experimentally tested. “Low wear” results from the experimental wear tests with “glide honed” smooth liner surfaces supported the “low friction” simulation results. In addition a new wear volume sensitive surface roughness parameter, R_ktot, based on the Abbot–Firestone bearing area curve was introduced.     

Friction and wear of carbon steel near T1-transition under dry sliding

The wear phenomenon of metals under dry sliding is, generally, divided into two modes of severe and mild wear. A discontinuous transition between the wear modes often takes place in a certain load range. The T₁-transition is usually observed at lower levels of load or sliding velocity. There is a great difference in wear rate between severe and mild wear. This indicates that the occurrence of severe wear should be avoided, especially in the field of machine design to prevent energy loss, occurrence of noise and vibration, and life reduction of machines and their components. Therefore, it is important for machine designers to know the relationship between friction and wear and the difference in properties of the wear surfaces in the two wear modes. In this study, wear tests of 0.35% C steel in contact with itself under constant load were conducted in moist air at various contact loads under dry sliding. The friction and wear were measured continuously throughout each test. After the tests, the relationship between friction and wear and the difference in properties of the wear surfaces were investigated in each wear mode. From the results, the upper and lower critical loads (P_acr and P_Acr) appeared between severe and mild wear. The phenomenon of zero wear has been newly found in the early period at very low loads. The zero wear continued for a long sliding distance and then changes to mild wear. The critical load between zero wear and mild wear is defined as P_zerowear. The load was changed once in a step-wise manner from low to high levels in process of test. Since the rubbing history under mild wear condition at the low load in the first stage affected the properties of wear surface, the wear mode at the high load in the second stage changed from ‘mild wear’ to ‘quasi-mild wear’ having a low rate. From the relationship between sliding distance necessary for the appearance of quasi-mild wear and contact load in the first stage, the boundary curve between severe wear and quasi-mild wear in the second stage is hyperbolic. This curve gradually approaches P_zerowear with decreasing contact load. Thus, P_zerowear is one of the important critical loads for elucidating the test results under varying load.     

Abrasive wear resistance of textured steel rings

The fundamental aim of the present research is to study the effect of dimple shape and area density on abrasive wear in lubricated sliding. The other aims are to recommend a method of obtaining the local linear wear of a textured ring on the basis of profilometric measurement and to analyse the changes in the surface topography of this ring with selection of parameters that could monitor the “zero-wear” process.The experiments were conducted on a block-on ring tester. The stationary block made from cast iron of 50 HRC hardness was ground. The rotated ground ring was made from 42CrMO4 steel of 32 HRC hardness. The rings were modified by a burnishing technique in order to obtain surfaces with oil pockets. Oil pockets of spherical and of drop shape were tested. The pit-area ratios were in the range: 7.5–20%. The tested assembly was lubricated by oil L-AN 46. Because of the great hardness of the co-acting parts the wear resistance test was carried out under artificially increased dustiness conditions. The dust consists mainly of SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ particles. Measurement of local microscopic ring wear was made using a three-dimensional scanning instrument. The tendencies of ring surface topography changes during wear were analysed. Various methods of obtaining the local wear value during a low wear process were proposed and compared. We found that a spherical shape of dimples was superior to a drop shape with regard to wear resistance of steel rings.     

Effect of friction cycles on wear particle generation of carbon nitride coating against a spherical diamond

The in-situ observations of wear particle generation of carbon nitride coating on silicon repeatedly sliding against a spherical diamond have been studied in terms of the critical friction cycles and normal loads. An environmental scanning electron microscope (E-SEM), in which a pin-on-disk tribotester was installed, has in-situ provided direct evidence of when and how the wear particle generation do occur during the repeated sliding of carbon nitride coating against a spherical diamond. The in-situ observations of non-conductive carbon nitride coating are therefore available free from surface charging with controllable relative humidity. The repeated sliding tests at a sliding speed of 50 μm/s have been carried out with the purpose of observing the ‘No wear particle generation’ region when varying normal load from 10 to 250 mN. It appears that until 20 friction cycles, the maximum Hertzian contact pressure P_max for ‘No wear particle generation’ can be improved from 1.39 Y to 1.53 Y if silicon is coated by carbon nitride with a thickness of 10 nm, where Y is defined as the yield strength of silicon. The applicable enlargement of the ‘No wear particle generation’ region of carbon nitride coating has therefore been comparatively discussed with the silicon substrate from the view points of the friction coefficient and the specific wear rate. The mode transition maps have also been summarized for the repeated sliding of carbon nitride coating in terms of ‘No wear particle generation’, ‘Wear particle generation by microcutting’ and ‘Wear particle generation by microcutting and microfracturing’ three typical modes.     

Impact of Cr3C2/VC addition on the dry sliding friction and wear response of WC–Co cemented carbides

Two grades of WC–10 wt.%Co cemented carbide with or without addition of Cr₃C₂/VC grain growth inhibitor during liquid phase sintering were produced with the goal to investigate their reciprocating sliding friction and wear behaviour against WC–6 wt.%Co cemented carbide under unlubricated conditions. The tribological characteristics were obtained on a Plint TE77 tribometer using distinctive normal contact loads. The generated wear tracks were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and quantified topographically using surface scanning equipment. The post-mortem obtained wear volumes were compared to the online assessed wear. Correlations between wear volume, wear rate and coefficient of friction on the one hand and sliding distance and microstructural properties on the other hand were determined, revealing a significant influence of Cr₃C₂/VC on the friction characteristics and wear performance.     

Effects of supply of fine oxide particles onto rubbing steel surfaces on severe–mild wear transition and oxide film formation

This study is the first to show a quantitative condition required for the establishment of severe–mild wear transition with sliding distance, by studying the effects of supply of Fe₂O₃ particles onto rubbing steel surfaces on the transition and oxide film formation process. The supply of fine Fe₂O₃ particles was found to accelerate the wear transition, and the sliding distance at which the transition occurs was found to increase with particle diameter and applied load. Oxide films are produced on the rubbing surfaces by sintering of the supplied Fe₂O₃ oxide particles. At the severe–mild wear transition, the relative area of oxide films is the same for all diameters of supplied Fe₂O₃ particles. This finding suggests that the transition occurs when the relative area of oxide films reaches a specific value, which is proportional to the area of real contact.     

Combined influences of mechanical properties and surface roughness on the tribological properties of amorphous carbon coatings

Carbon films (∼2 μm thick) with a range of mechanical properties and underlying substrate roughnesses were evaluated for delamination and wear under conditions of combined impact and sliding contact. One-side-coated and both-sides-coated titanium alloy pin and disk wear couples were assessed using a custom-made impact/sliding pin-on-disk apparatus in a colloid-based blood volume expansion medium. The normal stress distribution along the film/substrate interface upon impact loading by a smooth titanium alloy pin was modelled analytically for each coated system. For disk surface roughness centre-line average (R_a) values below 0.05 μm, the area of disk film delamination was shown to correlate with the presence of tensile stress at the film/substrate interface. The interfacial tensile stress was shown to occur when there was a film/substrate elastic modulus mismatch, either within or outside the perimeter of contact, depending on the direction of the film modulus deviation. We propose that the tensile stress promotes delamination by lifting the film locally from the substrate. With increased disk R_a, the area of disk coating loss tended to decrease, because the surface roughness improved the mechanical bonding of the composite system.     

Friction, wear and material transfer of sintered polyimides sliding against various steel and diamond-like carbon coated surfaces

Polyimide cylinders are slid under 50 N normal load and 0.3 m/s sliding velocity against carbon steel (R_a=0.2 and 0.05 μm), high-alloy steel (R_a=0.05 μm), diamond-like carbon (DLC, R_a=0.05 μm) and diamond-like nanocomposite (DLN, R_a=0.05 μm). Only for a limited range of test parameters, the friction of polyimide/DLN is lower than for polyimide/steel, while polyimide shows higher wear rates after sliding against DLN compared to steel counterfaces. The DLN coating shows slight wear scratches, although less severe than on DLC-coatings that are worn through thermal degradation. Therefore, also friction against DLC-coatings is high and unstable. Calculated bulk temperatures for steel and DLN under mild sliding conditions remain below the polyimide transition temperature of 180 °C so that other surface characteristics explain low friction on DLN counterfaces, as surface energy, structural compatibility and transfer behaviour. Friction is initially determined through adhesion and it is demonstrated that higher surface energy provides higher friction. After certain sliding time, different polyimide transfer on each counterface governs the tribological performance. Polyimide and amorphous DLC structures are characterised by C–C bonds, showing high structural compatibility and easy adherence of wear debris on the coating. However, it consists of plate-like transfer particles that act as abrasives and deteriorate the polyimide wear resistance. In sliding experiments with high-alloy steel, wear debris is washed out of the contact zone without formation of a transfer film. Transfer consists of island-like particles for smooth carbon steel and it forms a more homogeneous transfer film on rough carbon steel. The latter thick and protective film is favourable for low wear rates; however, it causes higher friction than smooth counterfaces.     

Sliding wear behaviour of ion implanted ultra high molecular weight polyethylene against a surface modified titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V

A study has been made of the sliding wear behaviour of untreated and ion implanted ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) against a surface modified titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) using a pin on disc apparatus. It was found that the presence of water lubrication and a very smooth counterface was necessary to maintain low wear rates of the UHMWPE. A ‘zero wear’ effect was observed when nitrogen implanted UHMWPE was tested against very smooth counterfaces (R_a ≈ 0.03 μm) of either surface oxidized or nitrogen implanted Ti-6Al-4V under water lubrication. The enhanced mechanical and physical properties of the surface treated materials are believed to be responsible for the improved wear performance.     

Study of seizure of coated and treated titanium alloy under fretting conditions

Titanium alloys are well known to present poor sliding behaviour and high wear values. Various coatings (soft thick coatings and thin hard coatings) and treatments have been tested to prevent such an occurrence under fretting conditions at high frequency of displacement (100 Hz). An original test apparatus, using an open-loop system, has been performed to directly display the phenomenon of seizure. No seizure was recorded at low load (6 N), while, at higher load (10 N), all samples undergo a more or less early seizure. The total sliding distance D₀ proved to be a pertinent parameter to study the seizure resistance. Furthermore, the results highlight that D₀ is linked to the total energy dissipated in the contact, E_dt, and reveal two distinct behaviours at low load, which suggest two distinct dissipating mechanisms of energy. The first trend can be connected with the plastic deformation and the trapping process of debris within the contact zone occurring on soft coatings. The second trend can be related to the higher debris ejection observed on hard samples. So, soft thick coating satisfies most of the chosen criteria except those of wear. In contrast, thin and hard coatings are not sufficient to totally protect the substrate but they are already able to efficiently reduce wear.     

Hot wear properties of ceramic and basalt fiber reinforced hybrid friction materials

In the present study, hybrid friction materials were manufactured using ceramic and basalt fibers. Ceramic fiber content was kept constant at 10 vol% and basalt fiber content was changed between 0 to 40 vol%. Mechanical properties and friction and wear characteristics of friction materials were determined using a pin-on-disc type apparatus against a cast iron counterface in the sliding speeds of 3.2–12.8 m/s, disc temperature of 100–350 °C and applied loads of 312.5–625 N. The worn surfaces of the specimens were examined by SEM. Experiments show that fiber content has a significant influence on the mechanical and tribological properties of the composites. The friction coefficient of the hybrid friction materials was increased with increasing additional basalt fiber content. But the specific wear rates of the composites decreased up to 30 vol% fiber content and then increased again above this value. The wear tests showed that the coefficient of friction decreases with increasing load and speed but increases with increasing disc temperature up to 300 °C. The most important factor effecting wear rate was the disc temperature followed by sliding speed. The materials showing higher specific wear rates gave relatively coarser wear particles. XRD studies showed that Fe and Fe₂O₃ were present in wear debris at severe wear conditions which is indicating the disc wear.     

Effect of nanoparticles on the tribological behaviour of short carbon fibre reinforced poly(etherimide) composites

The tribological behaviour of nano-TiO₂ particle filled polyetherimide (PEI) composites, reinforced additionally with short carbon fibre (SCF) and lubricated internally with graphite flakes, was investigated. The wear tests were conducted on a pin-on-disc apparatus, using composite pins against polished steel counterparts under dry sliding conditions, different contact pressures and various sliding velocities. It was found that the conventional fillers, i.e. SCF and graphite flakes, could remarkably improve both the wear resistance and the load-carrying capacity. With the addition of nano-TiO₂, the frictional coefficient and the contact temperature of the composite were further reduced, especially under high pv (the product of the normal pressure, p, and the sliding velocity, v) conditions. Based on microscopic observations of worn surfaces and transfer films on the counterparts, possible wear mechanisms were discussed.     

Wear laws for polytetrafluoroethylene

Experiments were made to determine the effect of sliding speed, contact pressure and rubbing surface temperature on the wear of a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) pin rubbed against a chromium-plated brass disk. An automatic temperature control type wear apparatus to control the rubbing surface temperature was constructed and used to minimize the influence of frictional heat. The linear wear rate is proportional to contact pressure to the nth power (n > 1). Wear curves of PTFE with a characteristic variation of the linear wear rate with sliding speed were obtained. Increase of contact pressure shifts the curves towards a higher wear rate. When the temperature was increased the curves were shifted towards a higher speed and higher wear rate. A master curve obtained by translation of each wear curve vertically or horizontally to fit the reference curve can be used to determine the wear rate.     

Dry and oil-lubricated sliding wear of Si<Subscript>3</Subscript>N<Subscript>4</Subscript> and Si<Subscript>3</Subscript>N<Subscript>4</Subscript>/BN fibrous monoliths

A high-temperature ball-on-flat tribometer was used to investigate dry and oil-lubricated friction and wear of sintered Si₃N₄ and Si₃N₄/hexagonal boron nitride (H-BN) fibrous monoliths. The friction coefficients of base Si₃N₄ flats sliding against Si₃N₄ balls were in the range of 0.6–0.8 for dry and 0.03–0.15 for lubricated sliding, and the average wear rates of Si₃N₄ were 10^–5 mm³ N^–1 m^–1 for dry sliding and 10^–10–10^–8 mm³ N ^–1m^–1 for lubricated sliding. The friction coefficients of Si₃N₄ balls against composite fibrous monoliths were 0.7 for dry sliding and 0.01–0.08 for lubricated sliding. The average specific wear rates of the pairs were of the same order as those measured for the conventional Si₃N₄ pairs. However, the fibrous monoliths, in combination with sprayed dry boron nitride, resulted in reduction in the lubricated friction coefficients of the test pairs and significant reduction in their wear rates. The most striking result of this study was that the coefficients of friction of the Si₃N₄/H-BN fibrous monolith test pair were 70–80 lower than those of either roughened or polished Si₃N₄ when tests were performed under oil-lubricated sliding conditions over long distances (up to 5000 m). The results indicated that Si₃N₄/H-BN fibrous monoliths have good wear resistance and can be used to reduce friction under lubricated sliding conditions.     

Effect of lubricants on micropitting and wear

Micropitting was studied using a three-contact disc machine having a central roller in contact with three harder, annular counter-discs (“rings”) of precisely controlled roughness. Roughness, running conditions, base stock and additive concentration were varied. The response of the same lubricants in a reciprocating sliding wear test operating in the boundary regime was also studied.Results of experimental studies of the rolling contact behaviour of carburised steel rollers are reported. All the tests with the additive present led to micropitting. However, severe micropitting wear was only observed when the calculated film thickness exceeded 12% of the centre-line average roughness of the rings.It was found that there was an approximately inverse correlation between the micropitting damage in the disc machine test and the mild wear in the reciprocating sliding test. This was attributed to the tendency of anti-wear additives to prevent running-in of the rough surface.     

Friction and wear behaviour of plasma-sprayed Cr2O3 coatings against steel in a wide range of sliding velocities and normal loads

This study investigates the influence of sliding speed and normal load on the friction and wear of plasma-sprayed Cr₂O₃ coatings, in dry and lubricated sliding against AISI D2 steel. Friction and wear tests were performed in a wide speed range of 0.125–8 m/s under different normal loads using a block-on-ring tribometer. SEM, EDS and XPS were employed to identify the mechanical and chemical changes on the worn surfaces. A tangential impact wear model was proposed to explain the steep rising of wear from the minimum wear to the maximum wear. The results show that the wear of Cr₂O₃ coatings increases with increasing load. Secondly, there exist a minimum-wear sliding speed (0.5 m/s) and a maximum-wear sliding speed (3 m/s) for a Cr₂O₃ coating in dry sliding. With the increase of speed, the wear of a Cr₂O₃ coating decreases in the range 0.125–0.5 m/s, then rises steeply from 0.5 m/s to 3 m/s, followed by a decrease thereafter. The large variation of wear with respect to speed can be explained by stick-slip at low speeds, the tangential impact effect at median speeds and the softening effect of flash temperature at high speeds. Thirdly, the chemical compositions of the transfer film are a-Fe₂O₃ in the speed range 0.25–2 m/s, and FeO at 7 m/s. In addition, the wear mechanisms of a Cr₂O₃ coating in dry sliding versus AISI D2 steel are adhesion at low speeds, brittle fracture at median speeds and a mixture of abrasion and brittle fracture at high speeds. Finally the lubricated wear of Cr₂O₃ coating increases sharply from 1 to 2.8 m/s.     

Critical load for wear particle generation in carbon nitride coatings by single sliding against a spherical diamond

The ‘critical load' for wear particle generation of carbon nitride coatings sliding against a spherical diamond under a linearly increasing load has been examined in situ in relation to different nitrogen incorporation conditions, i.e. assisted N ion acceleration energy and N ion beam current density, and different coating thickness. An environmental scanning electron microscope (E-SEM), in which a pin-on-disk tribotester was installed, has provided direct evidence in situ of when, how and where wear particle generation occurs during the sliding of carbon nitride coatings against a spherical diamond. The in-situ examination of non-conductive carbon nitride coatings are available in E-SEM free from surface charging with controllable relative humidity. The sliding tests under linearly increasing load up to 300 mN at a sliding speed of 10 μm/s have been carried out with the purpose of measuring the ‘critical load' for wear particle generation in a similar way to the traditional macro scratch testing. However, instead of the ‘critical load', the critical maximum Hertzian contact pressure P_max will also be used in the following for better understanding. Based on the systematic study of seven combinations of nitrogen incorporation parameters and five kinds of thickness (0, 10, 50, 100 and 200 nm), the applicable range of P_max for wear particle generation can be increased from 1.6Y to 1.831.92Y or to 1.801.89Y, where Y is defined as the yield strength of silicon of 7 GPa, by coating carbon nitride onto silicon with changing nitrogen incorporation conditions of ion acceleration energy and ion current density, or varing coating thickness from 10 to 200 nm. It also appears that the observed wear particle generation of carbon nitride coatings was associated with a failure initiated in the silicon substrate rather than within the carbon nitride coating or at the coating–substrate interface in the light of both the empirical identification and the theoretical discussion.     

Palliatives in fretting: A dynamical approach

Fretting damages are connected to numerous aspects like friction, wear, contact mechanics, fatigue and material sciences. Its quantification also requests to consider the loading history as well as the sliding condition. Based on a “fretting sliding” approach, and considering fretting wear test conditions, various palliative solutions have been investigated. Shot peening treatment, introducing compressive residual stresses, appears pertinent against crack propagation but ineffective against crack nucleation due to the activation of surface relaxation phenomena. Hard thin coatings present stable residual stresses independently of the sliding conditions. However, they only delay the crack nucleation process, when the coating is worn through, cracking phenomena are activated. To quantify the coating endurance against wear, an energy density approach has been developed. The stability of this approach has been confirmed regarding the contact size effect and illustrated through the analysis of synergic interaction between soft thick coating and solid lubricant.