Tribological Performance of PTFE–Metal Binary Coatings in Rolling/Sliding Contact

Tribological performance of surface coatings with embedded PTFE reservoirs in rolling/sliding contact is reported. Using two different coating materials and two shapes and patterns of PTFE reservoirs test samples in the form of discs were prepared and tested in a four-ball contact configuration under loads corresponding to nominal contact pressure of 0.5 and 1.0 GPa. It was found that one coating, namely aluminium–bronze with embedded PTFE reservoirs is suitable for applications where rolling is also associated with a degree of sliding and there is no external lubrication.     

Tribological Performance of Ti–Si-Based in Situ Composites

In this study, a series of Ti–Si-based in situ composites was manufactured by means of a common argon arc melting technique and tribologically evaluated using a sliding ball-on-disc tester under simulated body fluid lubrication. The composite microstructure, mechanical properties, and surface roughness were characterized using light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), vertical scanning interferometry (VSI), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, and hardness measurements. The evolution of coefficients of friction (COFs) and the appearance of contacting surfaces showed that two the principal wear mechanisms were mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL), typically followed by abrasive wear. The mixed EHL was due to the combined effect of serum solution lubrication and surface irregularities, which were produced during the routine surface preparation of samples. The mixed EHL provided the absence of wear and low and stable COFs, which did not depend on the phase composition, microstructure, or hardness of Ti–Si-based alloys. However, in most cases, the change in contact geometry led to the transition from mixed EHL to conventional boundary lubrication, accompanied by increased and unstable friction, adhesive material transfer of metal to the ceramic counterbodies, and abrasive wear. In this respect, the low wear resistance and high adhesion affinity of the titanium matrix of Ti–Si-based alloys should be improved.     

Tribological Performance of Halogen-Free Ionic Liquids in Steel–Steel and DLC–DLC Contacts

The tribological performance of halogen-free ionic liquids at steel–steel and diamond-like carbon (DLC)–DLC contacts was investigated. Hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) and tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) were used as test specimens. Friction tests were carried out on steel–steel, a-C:H–a-C:H, and ta-C–ta-C contacts by using a reciprocating cylinder-on-disk tribotester lubricated with two different types of halogen-free ionic liquids: 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide ([BMIM][DCN]) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tricyanomethanide ([BMIM][TCC]). From the results of friction tests, the ta-C–ta-C tribopair lubricated with [BMIM][DCN] or [BMIM][TCC] exhibited an ultralow friction coefficient of 0.018–0.03. On the other hand, ultralow friction was not observed at the steel–steel and a-C:H–a-C:H contacts. Measurements obtained with a laser scanning microscope and an atomic force microscope (AFM) showed that a chemical reaction film, derived from the ionic liquid lubricant used, was formed on the steel surfaces. However, this chemical reaction film was not observed on either of the DLC surfaces. The AFM results showed that there were high-viscosity products on the ta-C surfaces, that the wear tracks on the ta-C surfaces exhibited low frictional properties, and that the ta-C surfaces were extremely smooth after the friction tests. Based on these results, it was concluded that an ionic liquid–derived adsorbed film formed on the ta-C surface and resulted in the ultralow friction when lubricated with a halogen-free ionic liquid.     

Heat Treated NiP–SiC Composite Coatings: Elaboration and Tribocorrosion Behaviour in NaCl Solution

Tribocorrosion behaviour of heat-treated NiP and NiP–SiC composite coatings was investigated in a 0.6 M NaCl solution. The tribocorrosion tests were performed in a linear sliding tribometer with an electrochemical cell interface. It was analyzed the influence of SiC particles dispersion in the NiP matrix on current density developed, on coefficient of friction and on wear volume loss. The results showed that NiP–SiC composite coatings had a lower wear volume loss compared to NiP coatings. However, the incorporation of SiC particles into the metallic matrix affects the current density developed by the system during the tribocorrosion test. It was verified that not only the volume of co-deposited particles (SiC vol.%) but also the number of SiC particles per coating area unit (and consequently the SiC particles size) have made influence on the tribocorrosion behaviour of NiP–SiC composite coatings.     

Chromium and Detonation Nanodiamond Based Coatings of the Chromium–Carbon System: Deposition by Magnetron Sputtering,Peculiarities of Phase Composition,and Tribological Properties

The structure, the chemical and phase compositions, and the micromechanical and tribological properties of chromium–carbon coatings obtained by the magnetron sputtering of composite and/or sintered chromium–nanodiamond targets are investigated. The coatings possess the composite multiphase structure composed of chromium and its phases formed as a result of the chemical interactions of the target material’s components both between each other and with the reactive gas if present in a sputtering atmosphere. Several technological factors influencing the structural and phase peculiarities of the coatings, their nanohardness, and the dry friction behavior at high contact pressures are studied.     

Structural and Tribological Performance of Solid NiCr-WSe2-BaF2·CaF2-Y-hBN and NiCr-WSe2-BaF2·CaF2-Y Lubricant Coatings Produced by Atmospheric Plasma Spray

NiCr matrix WSe₂-BaF₂·CaF₂-Y-hBN and WSe₂-BaF₂·CaF₂-Y powders were prepared by mechanical granulation and crushing, and composite coatings were fabricated by atmospheric plasma spray technology. The microstructures and phase compositions of the powders, as well as the coatings, were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The friction coefficient and the wear behavior of the coatings from ambient temperature to 800°C were evaluated using a ball-on-disk tribometer. From the investigation of the worn surfaces, it was concluded that brittle fracture and delamination were the dominant wear mechanisms of the coatings at low temperature. At higher temperatures, a dense and protective oxide layer (BaCrO₄ and NiO) is generated on the worn surfaces of the coatings. Layered hexagonal BN particles reduce the direct contact and severe adhesion between friction pairs. Thus, the friction coefficient of the NiCr-WSe₂-BaF₂·CaF₂-Y-hBN coating is stable at the evaluated temperatures relative to the non-hBN coating. These fluorides exhibit excellent properties in these coatings over a large temperature range.     

Tribological Properties of Reactive Magnetron Sputtered V2O5 and VN–V2O5 Coatings

Next generation of advanced hard coatings for tribological applications should combine the advantages of hard wear resistant coatings with low-friction films. In this study, the tribological behaviour of vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅) single-layer as well as VN–V₂O₅ bi-layer coatings was investigated in the temperature ranging between 25 and 600 °C. For VN–V₂O₅ bi-layer coatings, the V₂O₅ top-layers were deposited by dc and bipolar-pulsed dc reactive magnetron sputtering, where the V₂O₅ phase shows preferred growth orientation in (200) and (110), respectively. The V₂O₅ single-layer coatings were prepared by dc reactive magnetron sputtering with a substrate bias of −80 V which leads to a preferred (200) growth orientation. Tribological properties were evaluated using a ball-on-disc configuration in ambient air with alumina balls as counterpart. The structure of the as-deposited films and eventual changes after tribometer testing were identified using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The friction coefficient of VN–V₂O₅ bi-layer coatings deposited in dc and pulsed dc mode decreases from room temperature to 600 °C, where the pulsed dc VN–V₂O₅ coatings have a significantly lower coefficient of friction over the whole testing temperatures reaching a value of 0.28 at 600 °C. Up to 400 °C, V₂O₅ single-layer coatings showed almost the same coefficient of friction as pulsed dc VN–V₂O₅ bi-layer coatings but reached a value of 0.15 at 600 °C. It seems that thermal activation of crystallographic slip systems is necessary for V₂O₅ films to show a low-friction effect.     

Test Analysis of Friction Couples With Solid Lubricant Coatings under Ground–Space Conditions and Prediction of Tribological Characteristics

As a result of an analysis of the literature data on ground–space tribological tests of friction couples with solid lubricant coating (SLC) ARSRI PP 212, the dependences for evaluating the starting antifriction characteristics have been determined. The wear life and coefficient of friction have been compared. According to results, calculation algorithms of tribological characteristics of friction couples with SLC for considered operational conditions have been developed and implemented.     

Investigation of the Structure of Surface and Tribological Properties of Composition Coatings Based on Thermosetting Epoxy–Polyester Resins

Composition coatings based on the epoxy–polyester matrix and polydisperse particles of structured carbon have been investigated. The formulation of the mixed compositions has been optimized. The effect of filler particles on structure formation of the surface and tribotechnical characteristics of composition coatings has been shown.     

Investigating the Tribological Characteristics of Burnished Polyoxymethylene—ANFIS and FE Modeling

ABSTRACT

Polymers are utilized in numerous tribological applications because of their excellent characteristics; for example, accommodating shock loading and shaft misalignment. A high surface finish is required to ensure consistently good performance and extended service life of manufactured polymeric components. Burnishing is the best choice as a finishing process for this study due to its ability to increase hardness, fatigue strength, and wear resistance and also introduce compressive residual stress on the burnished workpiece. Due to the complexity and uncertainty of the machining processes, soft computing techniques are preferred for anticipating the performance of the machining processes. In this study, ANFIS as an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system was applied to anticipate the workpiece hardness and surface roughness after the roller burnishing process. Five burnishing variables, including burnishing depth, feed rate, speed, roller width, and lubrication mode, were analyzed. A Gauss membership function was used for the training process in this study. The predicted surface roughness and hardness data were compared with experimental results and indicated that the Gauss membership function in ANFIS has satisfying accuracy as high as 97% for surface roughness and 96% for hardness. Furthermore, the generated compressive residual stress on the burnished surface was studied by a 2D finite element model (FEM). The simulated results of residual stress were validated with the experimental results obtained from X-ray diffraction (XRD) tests.     

Enhanced Performance of Pennzane® Greases for Space Applications by Both Additive Formulations and Smooth Hard Coatings

Tribological requirements of the moving mechanical assemblies (MMAs) of spacecraft are usually satisfied by a variety of lubricants and materials. When the lubricant elastohydrodynamic film is broken, metal-to-metal contact occurs in the MMAs. This may lead to lubricant overheating, and breakdown, and then to increased wear and failure. Wear related failure can also occur due to evaporation and/or creep of the lubricant over the lifetime of space assembly. As requirements for spacecraft performance and lifetime increase, improved lubrication systems for MMAs are needed. A considerable amount of progress has been made in developing improved lubricants with advanced additives; however, their performance has not been evaluated and ranked. In the present work, four-ball and reciprocating tribometer tests were conducted to evaluate and rank the performance of various Pennzane® based greases. Employing the reciprocating tribometer technique, Pennzane® based greases were also evaluated with hard coatings such as titanium nitride (TiN) and titanium carbonitride (TiCN) in a metal-on-coating configuration. Viability of a filtered cathodic arc technique for obtaining very smooth, hard coatings is demonstrated. The importance of coating deposition temperature for certain bearing steel materials is also discussed. It is demonstrated that wear is substantially reduced with an optimized Pennzane® grease formulation on a smooth, hard TiCN surface coating.     

A Model for Rolling Bearing Life with Surface and Subsurface Survival—Tribological Effects

Until now the estimation of rolling bearing life has been based on engineering models that consider an equivalent stress, originated beneath the contact surface, that is applied to the stressed volume of the rolling contact. Through the years, fatigue surface–originated failures, resulting from reduced lubrication or contamination, have been incorporated into the estimation of the bearing life by applying a penalty to the overall equivalent stress of the rolling contact. Due to this simplification, the accounting of some specific failure modes originated directly at the surface of the rolling contact can be challenging. In the present article, this issue is addressed by developing a general approach for rolling contact life in which the surface-originated damage is explicitly formulated into the basic fatigue equations of the rolling contact. This is achieved by introducing a function to describe surface-originated failures and coupling it with the traditional subsurface-originated fatigue risk of the rolling contact. The article presents the fundamental theory of the new model and its general behavior. The ability of the present general method to provide an account for the surface–subsurface competing fatigue mechanisms taking place in rolling bearings is discussed with reference to endurance testing data.     

A Study of Tribological Phenomena in Friction Couple: Brake Composite Material—Steel

An investigation has been made of the mechanism of the iron layer formation on brake friction materials sliding over a steel surface. The nature of the metallization of specimens of friction materials, as well as changes in the surfaces as a result of sliding, were studied by optical and scanning-electron microscopy, electron-probe microanalysis, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, gas chromatograph analysis, and microhardness measurements. Based on this work and on reviews of some of the most recent results concerning the wear of friction materials, a hypothesis of the metallization of friction linings (iron layer formation) is presented. A model of a tribological system for a frictional brake as well as a model of the subsurface layers of composite brake materials is described.     

Arc Evaporation of Ti–Al–Ta–N Coatings: The Effect of Bias Voltage and Ta on High-temperature Tribological Properties

Recently, titanium aluminium tantalum nitride (Ti–Al–Ta–N) coatings have been shown to exhibit beneficial properties for cutting applications. However, the reason for the improved behaviour of these coatings in comparison to unalloyed Ti–Al–N is not yet clear. Here, we report on the tribological mechanisms present in the temperature range between 25 and 900 °C for this coating system, and in particular on the effect of the bias voltage during deposition on the tribological response. Based on these results, we provide an explanation for the improved performance of Ta-alloyed coatings. An industrial-scale cathodic arc evaporation facility was used to deposit the coatings from powder metallurgically produced Ti₄₀Al₆₀ and Ti₃₈Al₅₇Ta₅ targets at bias voltages ranging from −40 to −160 V. X-ray diffraction experiments displayed a change with increasing bias voltage from a dual-phase structure containing cubic and hexagonal phases to a single-phase cubic structure. Investigations of the wear behaviour at various temperatures showed different controlling effects in the respective temperature ranges. The results of dry sliding tests at room temperature were independent of bias voltage and Ta-alloying, where the atmosphere, i.e. moisture and oxygen, were the most important parameters during the test. At 500 °C, bias and droplet-generated surface roughness were identified to determine the tribological behaviour. At 700 and 900 °C, wear depended on the coating’s resistance to oxidation, which was also influenced by the bias voltage. In conclusion, Ta-alloyed coatings show a significantly higher resistance to oxidation than unalloyed Ti–Al–N which could be an important reason for the improved performance in cutting operations.     

Contributions in medical needle technologies—Geometry,mechanics, design,and manufacturing

This article summarizes the contributions in research on tissue cutting with needles. The geometry of the needle's cutting edges was analytically defined and expressions for the inclination and rake angles of hollow and solid needles and trocars have been derived. Based on the semi-empirical method, finite element model and the fracture mechanics approach, force models of needle insertion were developed. The relationship between the needle's tip geometry and insertion force was established and used in several applications. It was shown, for example, that the cutting edge of the lancet needle can be optimally designed to minimize insertion force or bevel length. The cutting mechanics in rotary needle insertion was investigated along with the exploration of improvements of needle biopsy performance by decreasing the needle cutting and friction forces. The deflections of the needle during insertion were measured to develop a strategy for guiding the needle to the right position in brachytherapy and drug delivery. From an overall perspective, fundamental advances and application problems based on the cutting mechanics of soft tissue for needle were highlighted to lay the foundation for developments of biomedical device and improvements of healthcare procedures.     

Role of Third Bodies in Friction and Wear of Cold-Sprayed Ti and Ti–TiC Composite Coatings

Titanium (Ti) and Ti-based alloy wear performance is often poor unless coating or lubricants are used. An alternative is to use hard phase reinforcement. Cold spray is a relatively new method to deposit composite coatings, where here we report the deposition of a Ti–TiC coating and its sliding wear behavior. Mixtures of mechanically blended Ti–TiC with various TiC content were injected into a de Laval nozzle and sprayed onto substrates. Two composite coatings and a pure Ti coating are reported here, where the as-sprayed compositions of the composites were 13.8 and 33.4 vol% TiC. Reciprocating dry sliding wear was performed using a custom-built in situ tribometer. All tests were conducted with a sliding speed of 3 mm/s and at a normal load of 0.5 N. Using a transparent sapphire hemisphere of 6.25 mm as counterface, dynamic behavior of third bodies was directly observed. It was found that adhesive transfer of Ti was the primary wear mechanism for the Ti coating, with oxidative and abrasive wear also occurring for longer sliding cycles. The superior wear resistance of the composite coatings compared to Ti was related to dual function of TiC particles, where they reinforced the Ti matrix and facilitated the formation of a stable and protective tribofilms. The tribofilms contained carbonaceous material that provided easier shear and lower friction. The formation of these tribofilms was highly dependent on the TiC particles, which contained excess carbon compared to the equilibrium composition. Higher TiC content was more effective in quickly developing and sustaining the tribofilms.     

Using Methods of Analysis of Optical Images of Friction Surfaces of Ti–Al–N Based Coatings for Assessing Accumulation of Damage and Diagnostics of Failure in Tribological Tests

Russian Journal of Nondestructive Testing - The processes of damage accumulation and failure in thin ceramic coatings based on the Ti–Al–N system deposited on ductile steel and brittle...     

Micro-to-Nano Indentation and Scratch Hardness in the Ni–Co System: Depth Dependence and Implications for Tribological Behavior

Although size effects in hardness have been extensively reported and analyzed for the static (indentation) case, much less attention has been given to these effects in non-static (scratch) hardness measurements. In the present work, size effects in the indentation and scratch hardness response of the Ni–Co system are evaluated by performing tests at several penetration depths, from the micro to the nanometer range. It is shown that, for all the range of compositions, the hardness response of these materials is strongly affected by the depth of penetration of the indenter: when the depth decreases, both the indentation and scratch hardness increase several times. This result denotes that, when studying the wear behavior of materials, special care must be taken concerning the scale one is dealing with, since the tribo-mechanical response of the material may change significantly from the micrometric to the nanometric contact scale.     

The Study of Arc Rate,Friction, and Wear Performance of C/C Composites in Pantograph–Catenary System

A series of tests on arc rate, friction coefficient, and wear rate of electrical current collectors sliding against overhead contact wires under different conditions was carried out on a high-speed friction and wear testing machine with a pin-on-disc configuration. The worn surface morphology and composition were examined using a scanning electron microscope and energy dispersion spectrum analyzer, respectively. The effects of current, velocity, and load on the arc rate, friction coefficient, and wear rate of C/C composites/QCr0.5 couples were investigated, and the influence mechanism of test parameters on C/C composites was explained. It is concluded that the wear rate increases with an increase in current and velocity and has a decreasing trend with the increase in load. The friction coefficient increases with an increase in velocity and load. The arc rate of C/C composites/QCr0.5 couples increases with an increase in current and velocity. Under the condition of the same current and velocity, when the load is 70 N, the arc rate is the lowest.