Mechanical and Antifrictional Properties of Elastomeric Composites Based on a Rubber for Sealing Elements

The tribomechanical functionality of a layered elastomeric composite in the form of a rubber substrate with a thin, nanoscale-thickness carbon (diamond-like) coating deposited on it was investigated. By the methods of dynamic contact indentation and tribotesting, it is established that, with increase in coating thickness, the Shore A hardness, viscosity, and relaxation time of the composite increase if the static and sliding friction coefficients decrease. The coating changes the classic wear mechanism of rubber from destruction by rolling down towards the less intense fatigue wear, which is characteristic of materials with a low friction coefficient. By calculating, it is shown that a change in coating thickness leads to a significant change in its stiffness from an insignificant flexural stiffness of membrane at h = 22 nm (in this case, the distribution of displacements practically coincides with deflection of an elastic half-space) to that of an almost nondeformable plate at h = 180 nm.