Influences on the tribological behaviour of slip-rolling DLC-coatings

Diamond like carbon (DLC)-coatings are applied very successfully on computer discs. Sliding friction tests confirm their high performance as dry lubricants with friction coefficients (COFs) below 0.1. In contrast to sliding tests, until very recently most of the DLC-coatings failed in slip-rolling test after fewer cycles than uncoated samples. However, present tests with DLC-coatings of seven different suppliers show a more promising tribological behaviour under slip-rolling conditions. The DLC-coatings were deposited onto steel 100Cr6, HRC 60, with a thickness of 2-3 mu m. The counter bodies were uncoated, grinded or polished 100Cr6 discs with 30 mm radius of curvature. The tests were performed on a twin disc testing rig (Amsler type) with paraffin oil under boundary/mixed lubrication and rolling with 10% slip. The initial, average Hertzian contact pressure was adjusted to P-m = 1.0, 1.25, and 1.5 GPa. The failure criterion was defined as the occurrence of a single damaged area larger than 1 mm(2), which was controlled by optical microscopy (OM). An acoustic emission (AE) measurement system was installed as an additional online control for coating failure. The stressed coatings and the chipping areas were analyzed by OM, SEM, EDX, AFM and Raman spectroscopy. Until now, the results reveal that a large scatter in lifetime of coatings occurs not only between samples of different coaters but also between the samples of one single batch. The highest lifetime reached by a DLC-coating under these testing conditions is 10 X 10(6) cycles. That is the highest life time for a coating tested under the testing conditions above in our laboratory so far. The following factors were identified to influence the life time of the coatings: coating thickness, interlayer type, topography of the coatings, counter body roughness and mechanical properties. But the most important factor determining the life time of the coatings is that the coating process does produce homogenous layers free of faults. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.