Hardness properties and high-temperature wear behavior of nitrided AISI D2 tool steel, prior and after PAPVD coating

Wear experiments in the range of 25–600 °C have been conducted on samples of D2 tool steel in different conditions involving unnitrided, nitrided and nitrided and coated with Balinit^® A (TiN) and Balinit^® Futura (TiAlN) deposited industrially at Balzers (Amherst, NY, USA), by means of PAPVD. The results indicate that coating the nitrided D2 tool steel substrate with these two films gives rise to an improvement of 97% (TiN) and 99% (TiAlN) in the wear behavior at the test temperature of 300 °C, in comparison with the uncoated substrate. However, at a temperature of 600 °C, besides oxidation of the coatings, the mechanical strength of the substrate decreases giving rise to fracture and delamination of the films. At this temperature the uncoated substrate exhibited the highest resistance to sliding wear, presumably due to the formation of a well bonded surface glazed layer which gives rise to a significant reduction in the friction coefficient. The indentation experiments that were conducted with the nitrided steel substrate and the coated systems indicates that the nitriding process applied to the D2 steel prior to PAPVD coating provides a satisfactory load support which contributes to the improvement of the coated systems capability to withstand indentation loads at room temperature. In this regard, the coated system with a TiAlN coating displayed a better behavior than that shown by the system with a TiN coating. An experimental procedure is proposed in order to predict the hardness profile of the nitrided tool steel, along the cross section of the material, just from hardness measurements taken on the surface of the sample, employing different indentation loads.     

A comparison of condensation heat transfer performance of MWCNT/Fe composite coatings on steel substrate

In the present study, the effect of MWCNT/Fe coatings on steel substrate was investigated using R134a vapor. Specifically, CNT and Fe₂O₃ powder were used as components in mechanically alloyed powder composites, which were used to fabricate surface coatings. There were two types of coatings used in the tests. The first one was pure Fe coating and the second one was the MWCNT/Fe composite coating. The powders were coated on a plain carbon steel plate by electrostatic spraying. This was followed by sintering at 900 °C. Results showed that the condensation heat transfer can be enhanced by MWCNT/Fe composite coatings, while a pure Fe coating can diminish the enhancement in comparison to the plain carbon steel plate.     

Surface failure of soft and surface-hardened steel rollers in rolling contact

To study the mechanism of rolling contact fatigue failure, annealed thermally refined 0.43% carbon steel and case-hardened nickel chromium steel rollers were tested under conditions of pure rolling and sliding/rolling. The failure mechanism was examined by fractographic observation and by calculation of the amplitudes of the ratio of stress to strength.It was found that pitting cracks initiated on the roller surface and were induced by the normal stress in the circumferential direction of the roller or by the maximum principal stress. Spalling cracks initiated beneath the surface and were induced by the orthogonal shear stress.     

DLC solid lubricant coatings on ball bearings for space applications

The environment of space offers special challenges for the lubrication of components in sliding and rolling mechanisms. Hydrogenated diamond-like carbon (DLC) films are being studied as solid lubricant coatings to simultaneously fulfil specifications regarding wear resistance and low friction behaviour under ambient atmosphere and in vacuum.In this paper, the tribological behaviour of highly hydrogenated DLC coatings (50 at% hydrogen) is assessed. Coating composition was optimised on flat AISI 52100 steel substrates based on ball-on-disc tribotest results in air, vacuum and dry nitrogen environments. The developed DLC coatings can be tailored to yield ultra-low friction values in vacuum (μ=0.008). The average friction coefficient range obtained in humid air, dry nitrogen and vacuum for the range of applied loads were, respectively, 0.22 to 0.27, 0.02 to 0.03, and 0.007 to 0.013.New in this work is that optimised DLC coatings were applied to ball bearings for space applications. The torque and life tests of coated pairs of angular contact bearings in air revealed that relatively high bearing torques are generated which increase with time, but the amount of coating wear generated during in-air operation appears relatively light. In vacuum, low torques are generated after a prolonged running-in period. Low-torque life exceeds that observed for MoS₂ by a factor of about two. It is concluded that, in contrast to MoS₂ coated bearings, DLC-coated bearings for space applications might therefore be capable of undergoing in-air ground testing without too much disruption of the subsequent in-space performance.     

Rolling contact fatigue performance of detonation gun coated elements

Rolling contact fatigue performance of thermal spray coatings has been investigated using an experimental approach. A modified four ball machine which simulates a rolling element bearing was used to examine the coating performance and failure modes in a conventional steel ball bearing and hybrid ceramic bearing configurations. Tungsten carbide (WC-15% Co) and aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃) were thermally sprayed using a super D-Gun (SDG2040) on M-50 bearing steel substrate in the geometrical shape of a cone. A coated cone replaced the upper ball that contacts with three lower balls. The rolling contact fatigue (RCF) tests were performed under immersed lubricated conditions using two different lubricants. Fatigue failure modes were observed using a scanning electron microscope. Microhardness measurements of the coating and the substrate and elastohydrodynamic fluid film thickness results are included. The results show the requirement for significant optimization of the coating before use in rolling element bearing applications. The coating was fractured in a delamination mode. Test results show an optimization in coating process is required before these coatings can be used for rolling contact applications. WC-Co coatings perform better than Al₂O₃ coatings in rolling contact.     

Wear resistance and anti-sticking properties of duplex treated forming tool steel

The aim of this work was to investigate the potential of using hard physical vapour deposition (PVD) coatings on forming tools, as well as to determine the influence of plasma nitriding on the load-carrying capacity and wear resistance of coated tool surfaces. A load-scanning test rig was used for evaluation, where duplex treated cold work tool steel samples were loaded against soft austenitic stainless steel and hardened ball bearing steel, respectively. Four different coatings (TiN, TiB₂, TaC and DLC) and two substrate treatments (hardening and plasma nitriding in two different gas mixtures) were included.Plasma nitriding alone significantly improved the friction, wear, and anti-sticking properties of the tool steel. PVD coating, and especially PVD coating of nitrided tool steel further improved the performance. Therefore, from the point of view of tool life as well as work peace surface quality, the DLC coating with its excellent anti-sticking properties and sufficiently good wear resistance represent the best solution for forming tool applications of austenitic stainless steel.     

A Mixed Lubrication Model for Journal Bearings with a Thin Soft Coating—Part I: Contact and Lubrication Analysis

Soft coatings are used extensively in industry for contact friction reduction, particularly during the running-in period. A numerical model is developed for contact and lubrication analysis of some soft coating coated bearings in mixed fluid lubrication. The model is applied to determine oil film thickness, contact pressure, and the friction coefficient of the coated bearings in contact with a hard journal surface. The contact of tin-coated 339 Al-Si alloy bearings with case hardened steel is analyzed using the developed model.     

Tribological Properties of DLC Coatings in Helium

The aim of this research work was to investigate tribological properties of low-friction DLC coatings when operating in helium atmosphere. Two commercial DLC coatings (a-C:H and Me-C:H) were included in the investigation and compared to reference PTFE-based coatings, normally used on components operating in helium. Coatings were deposited on hardened 100Cr6 bearing steel discs and tested against uncoated steel balls in low-load pin-on-disc contact configuration. Investigation was focused on the effect of substrate roughness (R _a ?=?0.05?C0.2???m) and contact conditions, including contact pressure (150?C350?MPa) and sliding speed (0.2?C0.4?m/s) on the coefficient of friction of DLC coatings operating in helium. Results of this investigation show that for low-load sliding contact DLC coatings provide low friction in helium atmosphere, similar to soft PTFE-based coatings. At the same time DLC coatings investigated were found to substantially reduce wear of the coated surface. However, while the wear of the coated part has been more or less eliminated, application of DLC coating prolongs running-in and increases wear of the steel counter-part. Furthermore, also in helium atmosphere tribolgical behaviour of DLC coatings showed dependence on the coating type and contact conditions.     

超声辅助电火花粉末沉积WC-Ni金属陶瓷涂层的微观结构及摩擦学性能

针对传统电火花沉积工艺中工具电极预制成本高、工艺复杂、材料选择范围受限等问题,提出了一种超声辅助电火花粉末沉积（Ultrasonic-assisted electro-spark powder deposition,UEPD）的新方法。利用UEPD工艺成功地在316L不锈钢基材上制备了WC-Ni金属陶瓷涂层。所制备的WC-Ni金属陶瓷涂层的厚度为89~159 μm,表面粗糙度约为3.672 μm,并且与基材呈现良好的冶金结合。超声振动的引入能够有效改善涂层的成形质量。涂层的微观组织主要由亚微米级细小枝晶组成,主要物相包括FeNi、Cr₃Ni、WC、W₂C、Cr₂₃C₆和Cr₃C₂等。这些细小的晶粒和强化相使金属陶瓷涂层的硬度明显增加,平均硬度达到980.68 HV,约为基材的4.1倍。摩擦磨损性能测试表明,金属陶瓷涂层的磨损率相比基材和不含WC的Ni基合金涂层分别降低了50.7%和37.7%,并且还表现出明显低于二者的摩擦因数。WC-Ni金属陶瓷涂层的主要磨损机理为疲劳磨损和磨粒磨损,其中高硬度表面和具有颗粒流润滑效果的磨屑层是金属陶瓷涂层实现高耐磨、低摩擦的主要原因。UEPD工艺相比于传统的电火花沉积工艺省却了复杂的工具电极预制过程,其工艺更简单,成本更低廉、材料选择更广泛,并且所制备的涂层也表现出良好的成形质量和性能。这为电火花沉积技术的发展提供了一种新的思路。     

Effect of discontinuous hard under-coating on the life of solid film lubricant under extreme contact pressure

Wear life of bonded molybdenum disulfide film lubricant applied on discrete sections of chromium electroplated to an aluminum alloy substrate under extreme contact pressure was investigated. Block-on-ring tests with ridge-shaped, hardened stainless steel blocks and lubricant coated rings were carried out in a nitrogen atmosphere for several kinds of ring materials including this under-coating. All tests except those for the discontinuous chromium under-coating indicated large or unstable friction soon after the tests started. Discontinuous chromium coating demonstrated a stable friction coefficient of around 0.05 for a long time and the lubricant film remained intact after the test. This is because discontinuous chromium coating on aluminum substrate deformed along the shape of the ridged-block and contact pressure was decreased to several hundred MPa.     

Effect of substrate surface roughness on mechanical properties of diamond-like carbon coatings

Abstract

A plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) amorphous carbon coating was deposited onto 100Cr6 steel substrates having varying degrees of surface roughness. The samples were subsequently evaluated to determine the correlation between substrate roughness and coating performance. The steel substrates were prepared before coating deposition to attain five different levels of roughness: (a) ground; (b) superfinished (SF); (c) polished to 1000 grit; (d) polished to 220 grit and (e) polished to a 1 μm diamond finish. The aim of the investigation was to determine the degree of finish required for good tribological performance and coating adhesion. The mechanical and tribological properties of the samples were assessed by nanoindentation, ramped load scratch testing, and pin on disk wear testing. Nanoindentation testing was used to determine the hardness of the samples and the relative contributions to the system hardness from the substrate and coating were separated using the model of Korsunsky et al. Nanoindentation testing showed that the coating hardness (when separated from the system hardness) was lower for the samples with the SF substrate than the others: the reasons for this are discussed in the light of Raman measurements on the fractions of diamond-like and graphite-like bonding in the coatings. Ramped load scratch testing was used to determine coating adhesion and the scratch test failure mode. With the exception of the samples with the ground substrate finish, studies of the friction coefficient plots during scratch testing showed little variation between the samples, and SEM imaging revealed a common failure mode of severe spallation at the scratch track border. The samples with the ground substrate showed differences in response between scratches parallel and perpendicular to the grinding direction, with scratches parallel to the grinding direction showing more severe spallation. The average critical load to failure, as determined by the point of first failure in the scanning electron microscope, was lower for the coatings on the SF substrate than the coatings on the 220 grit, 1000 grit and 1 micron finished substrates. The critical load to failure for the samples with ground substrates was lower than the other substrate surface finishes. Pin on disk wear testing of the samples against a steel ball revealed that the major effect of the varying substrate roughness was on the wear of the counterface, with rougher substrate finishes generally resulting in higher wear rates of the counterface, although the smoothest substrate finish, the micrometre finish, also resulted in higher wear. The sample whose substrate was superfinished gave least wear of the counterface and this was therefore the optimum finish for the samples when considering their performance in a tribological couple.     

Surface durability of WC/C-coated case-hardened steel gear

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of tungsten carbide/carbon (WC/C) coating on the surface durability of casehardened steel gear. Two kinds of WC/C coatings were deposited on the ground gear pair made of chromium molybdenum steel with carburizing and quenching. One is the conventional WC/C coating, and the other is WC/C coating with about 1 μm CrN interlayer. Here, the WC/C-coated test pinion and the WC/C-coated one with CrN interlayer are represented by WT and ST, respectively. Non-coated test pinion is represented by NT. The surface roughness along the tooth profile direction of WT and ST was almost the same as that of NT. A spur gear test was carried out with an IAE power circulating type gear test rig under EP gear oil lubricating condition. The fatal failure mode of the test pinions was pitting due to surface cracking. The fatigue life of WT was longer than that of NT under a maximum Hertzian stress p _max=1700 MPa. On the other hand, under p _max=1900 MPa, that of WT was as long as that of NT due to the peeling occurrence of the coated layer. Under the comparatively low load condition without peeling occurrence, the surface roughness of WT decreased with the increasing number of cycles, and their fatigue life became longer than that of NT. On the contrary, in the case of ST, the peeling of the coated layer occurred at a comparatively early stage of the gear test, and the dedendum was worn by tens of micrometers. Therefore, in the case of ST, the effect of the WC/C coating disappeared at a comparatively small number of cycles.     

Simulation of roller guide wear in a high temperature test rig

Simulation of roller guide wear in rod or wire rolling mills has been performed in a high temperature test rig where the specimen rollers are in intermittent contact with the periphery of a heated rotating steel disc.By varying the time in contact during each cycle and deliberately superimposing a sliding component on the rolling contact, three components of guide roller wear were separated and quantified. The dominant component is wear due to sliding at the contact surface during rolling, followed by the isolated contribution from absolute rolling, while wear during roller acceleration is of less importance.Surface studies and the observed linear increase in wear vs. number of test cycles together with the linear increase in wear rate with normal force clearly show that abrasion by disc oxides is the dominant wear mechanism at elevated temperatures. The influence of disc temperature on the operating wear mechanisms as well as the resulting wear are also evaluated.A quantitative classification of four guide roller materials, a high chromium tool steel, two grades of high chromium cast iron and a cermet, has also been made. The hard cermet, containing about 50 vol.% titanium carbides, proved to be the outstanding material in roller guide applications.     

Finite element analysis of coating adhesion failure in pre-existing crack field

Abstract

The influence of a pre-existing crack field on coating adhesion failure in a steel surface coated with a 2 μm thick titanium nitride (TiN) coating was investigated by finite element method modelling and simulation. The stress and strain fields were determined in contact conditions with a spherical diamond tip sliding over the coated surface at a loading of 8 N. One crack in or at the coating increased the maximum tensile stresses with six times from 82 to 540 MPa when the crack was vertical through the coating or L shaped and with nine times when the crack was horizontal at the coating/substrate interface. A simulated multicrack pattern relaxed the tensile stresses compared to single cracks. The results indicate that a cracked coated surface needs to have about five to nine times higher adhesive and cohesive bonds to resist the same loading without crack growth compared to a crack free surface. For optimal coated surface design, the strength of the adhesive bonds between the coating and the substrate in the vertical direction needs to be 50% higher than the cohesive bonds within the coating and the substrate in the horizontal direction. The first crack is prone to start at the top of the coating and grows vertically down to coating/substrate interface, and there it stops due to the bigger cohesion within the steel material. After this, there are two effects influencing that the crack will grow in the lateral direction. One is that steel cohesion is normally bigger than the coating/interface adhesion, and the second is that there are higher tensile stresses in the horizontal than in the vertical cracks. Several vertical cracks can stop the horizontal crack growth due to stress relaxation.     

Study on cutting forces and experiment of MoS2/Zr-coated cemented carbide tool

MoS₂/Zr composite films were deposited on the cemented carbide YT14 (WC+14%TiC+6%Co) by medium-frequency magnetron sputtered coupled with multi-arc ion plating techniques. The thickness, micro-hardness, and coating/substrate adhesion strength of the coatings were tested. Surface morphologies of the composite coatings, as well as wear features, were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. Dry machining tests on hardened steel were carried out with the coated tool and uncoated YT15 tool. The variation of cutting forces for 45# hardened steel was tested by the Kistler force tester. The result shows that the cutting forces of coated tool were decreased by 25–30%, and flank wear resistance was improved by 30–35% in comparison with the uncoated YT15 tool. Through the analysis of cutting force distribution theory, the lower mean shear stress on the MoS₂/Zr-coated tool face leads to the decrease of cutting force and increase of tool wear resistance.     

Effect of hardness difference on the surface durability and surface failure of steel rollers

Experiments with pairs of rollers of different hardnesses designed to assess the effect of hardness difference on surface durability and surface failure are described. Sliding-rolling contact fatigue tests were performed with combinations of thermally refined, through-hardened and induction-hardened 0.45% C steel rollers. The mode of failure is discussed in relation to the hardness difference between the rollers and the presence of residual stresses. The effect of hardness on the modulus of elasticity was also examined. An empirical equation was devised to describe the relationship between the rolling contact fatigue limit under hertzian stress and the surface hardness.     

Development of a ta-C Wear Resistant Coating with Composite Interlayer for Recording Heads of Magnetic Tape Drives

The effect of two different surface modification methods on the wear life of the coating of magnetic tape drive heads has been studied. In this research, the heads were coated with 10 nm tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) film using filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) technique. The surface of the heads was pretreated by bombarding with energetic carbon ions or by developing a Si–Al–C composite interlayer before deposition of the coating. The coated heads were tested at a real head/tape interface of a tape drive. Surface characterization and tribological behavior of the head coatings with and without surface modification has been studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results reveal that the ta-C coating without any surface modification is not durable and the coating fails due to delamination. Pre-treating the head surface with energetic carbon ions improves the durability of the coating, especially on the head read/write elements; however, the coating of the head ceramic substrate is still partially delaminated. The application of a Si–Al–C composite interlayer is shown to be able to solve the delamination problem effectively and increase the wear life of the coating up to six times in comparison with the sample pretreated with carbon ions. The formation of strong chemical bonds between the head surface and the overcoat is found to be an important factor in improving the durability of the ta-C head coating.     

Load-carrying capacity evaluation of coating/substrate systems for hydrogen-free and hydrogenated diamond-like carbon films

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings have shown excellent tribological properties in laboratory tests. The coatings have also been introduced to several practical applications. However, the functional reliability of the coatings is often weakened by adhesion and load-carrying capacity related problems. In this study the load-carrying capacity of the coating/substrate system has been evaluated. The DLC coatings were deposited on stainless steel, alumina and cemented carbide with two different deposition techniques: the tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) coatings were deposited by a pulsed vacuum arc discharge deposition method and the hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H) films by radio frequency (r.f.) plasma deposition method. The load-carrying capacity of the coated systems was evaluated using a scratch test, Rockwell C-indentation test and ball-on-disc test. The effect of substrate material, substrate hardness, coating type and coating thickness was studied. An increase in substrate hardness increased the load-carrying capacity for the coated systems, as expected. The two coating types exhibited different performance under load due to their different physical and mechanical properties. For the load-carrying capacity evaluations the ball-on-disc configuration was found to be most suitable. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Three-dimensional finite element modelling of the scratch test for a TiN coated titanium alloy substrate

A three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) simulation of a rigid Rockwell C indenter scratching a TiN/Ti-6Al-4V coating/substrate system is presented. Coulomb friction between the indenter and the surface of the coating/substrate system was considered. The material properties of the coating and substrate were assumed to be elastic–plastic following a bilinear law with isotropic strain hardening. The von Mises yield criteria was used to determine the onset of plastic deformations. The scratch depth profiles at different moving distances were studied. The distributions of the stress field at the contact surface, in the coating, and at the interface of the coating/substrate system were investigated. The finite element results can be used to explain the failure modes of coated materials at the scratch test.     

Wear transitions and mechanisms in lubricated sliding of a molybdenum coating

Wear tests were performed for a Mo coating sliding against bearing steel specimen under boundary lubrication conditions. Results were compared with (i) hardened carbon steel sliding against bearing steel and (ii) Mo coating sliding against boron cast iron. Tests indicated that the wear resistance of the Mo coating was superior to that of the uncoated hardened steel. The initial surface topographies of the coatings were suitable to facilitate the transfer of the applied load directly onto the phases and prevented the softer phase directly involved in the wear process. The morphology of the transfer layer formed on the Mo coating was identified by X-ray diffractometry. And the layers were expected to supply an in situ lubrication effect. The wear rates of the coating against a steel slider were lower compared with those worn against a cast iron slider. With increasing applied load, the probability of the harder phases crack and fracture increased until the fraction of the unfragmented phases on the contact surfaces was no longer adequate to support the load. The dominant wear mechanisms in each wear regime were discussed.