Tribological and Mechanical Properties of the Nanostructured Superlattice Coatings with Respect to Surface Texture

Abstract

Ceramic Nanostructured Superlattice Coatings (NSC) have broad applicability to improve the parts’ and assemblies’ tribological and mechanical properties for the needs of the automotive and aerospace industries. Improving the material properties using nanocoatings for such a widely used material as, for example, bearing steel 100Cr6 makes it possible to improve the service life of machine parts. In this paper, the correlation dependence between tribological and mechanical properties of the NSC and its surface texture are considered to determine how much surface texture will affect the tribological performance of the coated workpieces, as well as the measuring and evaluation procedure of the nanocoatings, are presented. Three different NSC described by a general empirical formula {TiMe1Me2-CN/TiAlSi-N}n and based on the modified carbonitride/nitride non-stoichiometric chemical composition were created, and their tribological and mechanical properties measured and analyzed in the context with surface texture. NSC deposited by the advanced PVD (Physical vapor deposition) technique demonstrated significantly higher wear resistance (up to 28 times), reasonably lower friction coefficient (CoF) (up to 4 times), and significantly higher hardness of the coated workpieces (up to 7 times) versus substrate material. A strong correlation between the steady-state dry sliding friction, CoF, and the amplitude and functional surface texture parameters of tribo-track were observed. The first results of the initiated research regarding the correlation analysis of the tribological and mechanical properties, on the one hand, and surface texture, on the other hand, of the NSC are reported here.

Simple Deconvolution Models for Evaluating the True Microhardness of Thin Nanostructured Coatings Deposited via an Advanced Physical Vapor Deposition Technique

“…Thin-film coatings were successfully deposited onto 100Cr6-bearing steel substrates (30 mm × 4 mm disc) using the advanced physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique referred to here as the high-power ion-plasma magnetron sputtering (HiPIPMS) method. This method was employed within the thin-film modular deposition system (TF-MDS) [15,27]. In this context, HiPIPMS refers to a specific advanced PVD technique capable of achieving a discharge power density exceeding 60 W/cm 2 within the erosion zone of the magnetron sputtering target (MST), which is a crucial factor for the equal sputtering rate of different materials like transition metals, which have different sputtering yields during PVD processes [10].…”

Influence of the Chemical Composition and Topography of the Ti6Al7Nb Surface Etched in Fluorine Plasma on Its Selected Properties

“…Surface properties like topography and chemical composition have a significant impact on the materials performanceincluding tribological characteristics, wettability, biological, and optical properties. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] They determine the value of the coefficient of friction, wear rate, affect the adhesion of other coatings applied to them, as well as the cells differentiation, adhesion, and proliferation. In view of the above, various methods have been developed in order to surface modification of materialsdepending on the needs and application.…”

Improving the Surface Integrity and Tribological Behavior of a High-Temperature Friction Surface via the Synergy of Laser Cladding and Ultrasonic Burnishing

“…Surface coating is a commonly applied surface modification method. There exists several coating preparation techniques for varying application cases, such as thermal spraying [4], electroplating [5], physical vapor deposition [6], etc. However, these techniques have varying defects including low coating and substrate bonding strength, a thin thickness, and environmental pollution [7].…”