A ball-on-disk adapter was employed to simulate the point contacts arising at the disk specimens with a thin layer of solid lubricant film. The disk specimens were prepared by various surface treatment methods on the substrates. Other factors affecting the properties of the lubricant films are the coating materials and the thickness of the solid lubricant films. These factors are believed to have an impact on the friction coefficient and are investigated from experiments. The experimental results reveal that the lowest friction coefficient exists in the film which is neither too thick nor too thin. The tests for the specimens with the molybdenum disulphide or the molybdenum disulphide+graphite film show that a film too thin or too thick isn't beneficial to the wear life. On the other hand, the coating film with the polytetrajluoroethylene shows the wear life is almost linearly proportional to the film thickness. For all three lubricant films, a higher friction coefficient is often accompanied with an elevation in wear coefficient. The specimens with the polytetrajluoroethylene film show the smallest friction coefficient and the lowest wear coefJicient among the three solid lubricants under the same load.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.