The term DLC (diamond-like carbon) describes a whole class of different biocompatible materials based on amorphous carbon. One possible application for DLC is the coating of artificial hip joints to increase their life expectancy. The life expectancy of artificial hip joints is limited by osteolysis caused by wear particles, especially by wear particles in a range from 0.3 lm to 10 lm. In this study, biocompatible steel substrates are coated with DLC. Coatings with different structure are produced and investigated regarding their wear behavior. The aim is to influence the wear particle size distribution. To improve the adhesion of the coatings on the substrate, metallic interface layers are deposited by cathodic vacuum arc deposition, comparing chromium and titanium as interface layer material. The DLC-coatings are deposited by a vacuum arc that allows a transition from cathodic to anodic operation mode.It is shown, that by varying the deposition process parameters and thus by variation of the film properties, the wear particle size distribution can be adjusted significantly. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass durch Variation der Parameter beim Abscheiden die Größe der Abriebpartikel gezielt beeinflusst werden kann. Dem Ziel, Abriebpartikel kleiner als 0.3 lm zu erhalten, wurde bedeutend näher gekommen.
For biomedical application in the field of artificial hip joints diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings have been widely studied due to their excellent mechanical, tribological and biological properties. The wear particles as the main factor limiting the life expectancy of hip joints have attracted more and more interest, not only the number of them, but also the distribution of their size. In this study we have deposited DLC coatings on stainless steel (P2000) by a vacuum arc adjustable from anodic to cathodic operation mode. To improve the adhesion of the DLC coating on P2000, titanium as a metallic interlayer was deposited by cathodic vacuum arc evaporation. The frequency distribution of wear particles generated using a disc-on-disc test was measured by a particle size analyzer. It was shown that the maximum of the frequency distribution e.g. at —1000 V bias can be shifted to below 1 µm with increasing anode/cathode diameter ratio da/dc.
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