Tribological Properties of Multi-Layer a-C:H:W/a-C:H PVD-Coatings Micro-Structured by Picosecond Laser Ablation

• Published in: Key engineering materials Vol. 809; pp. 439 - 444
• Main Authors: Vollertsen, Frank, Mehner, Andreas, Hasselbruch, Henning, Lu, Y., Messaoudi, H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Zurich Trans Tech Publications Ltd 01.06.2019
• Subjects: Aluminum; Chromium molybdenum vanadium steels; Coatings; Coefficient of friction; Dimpling; Drying oils; Energy dispersive X ray spectroscopy; Laser ablation; Lasers; Lubrication; Magnetron sputtering; Multilayers; Scanning electron microscopy; Service life; Substrates; Tool steels; Tribology; Tungsten; Wear; Reactive Magnetron Sputtering; Picosecond Laser Ablation; a-C:H:W/a-C:H Coating; Micro-Structuring; Pin-on-Disc Tests
• ISSN: 1013-9826; 1662-9795; 1662-9795
• DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.809.439

An increase of the service life of tribological systems subjected to dynamic-mechanical loads is important for numerous mechanical applications. The present study deals with the impact of several micro-structured surface topographies of graded Cr/CrNx/(Cr,W)Cy/a-C:H:W/a-C:H PVD hard coatings on their friction and wear behavior. The coatings were applied by reactive magnetron sputtering on a hardened 1.2379 steel substrates and subsequently micro-structured by laser ablation using a picosecond laser. Pin-on-disc tests were carried out against aluminum under both oil lubrication and dry conditions. The diameters of the micro-dimples were varied between 50 μm, 100 μm and 150 μm at a constant degree of coating coverage of about 60 %. The coefficients of friction and wear were determined after 20,000 cycles by confocal laser-scanning microscope (CLSM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) to analyze possible transfer layer formations.