Time-modulated chemical vapour deposition diamonf on mould making 2738 steel

The mould making industry is known to be worldwide in rapid expansion, due to the fact that polymeric based materials are increasingly replacing conventional used ones, thus placing enormous challenges on production methods and tools.The application of chemical vapour deposition (CVD) diamond coatings onto moulds can be a promising tool to improve properties such as adhesion, reduction on abrasion and corrosive wear, filling and releasing problems or even tool thermal fatigue. Despite its potential for use in these types of applications, diamond coating on steel substrates is not problem-free and a few critical problems such as adhesion to steel, process temperatures and film property control, remain to be solved.This paper reports on experimental results obtained from an investigation focusing on the deposition of diamond coatings onto steel substrates using the new time-modulated chemical vapour deposition process. Furthermore, the technique is evaluated in order to establish its suitability for application in mould production tools.