The effect of sliding duration on the tribological behaviors of spot patterned coatings was investigated. Two patterns based on physical vapor deposition (PVD) TiN coatings were used, such as, in-lined (IN) and staggered (ST) spots. The tribological behaviors were evaluated by using a Cameron-Plint wear test rig. The M2 steel discs deposited TiN coatings with IN and ST patterns slid against the ASSAB 17 tool steel pins at a speed of 0.23 m/s, in Shell Tellus T32 lubricant and were loaded with 900 N. The testing results on disc specimens with two types of PVD TiN spot patterns, all coated with a bias voltage of ?180 V and slid for 4, 8 and 11 h respectively, were presented. The results revealed that the in-lined coatings possessed relatively better wear behaviors than the staggered pattern coatings. Mechanisms for such superiority and for the cause of peeling were discussed. A relevant design approach was suggested for the application of such patterned coatings.
The deposition process of hydrogenated diamond-like carbon (DLC) film greatly affects its frictional properties. In this study, CH3 radicals are selected as source species to deposit hydrogenated DLC films for molecular dynamics simulation. The growth and structural properties of hydrogenated DLC films are investigated and elucidated in detail. By comparison and statistical analysis, the authors find that the ratio of carbon to hydrogen in the films generally shows a monotonously increasing trend with the increase of impact energy. Carbon atoms are more reactive during deposition and more liable to bond with substrate atoms than hydrogen atoms. In addition, there exists a peak value of the number of hydrogen atoms deposited in hydrogenated DLC films. The trends of the variation are opposite on the two sides of this peak point, and it becomes stable when impact energy is greater than 80 eV. The average relative density also indicates a rising trend along with the increment of impact energy, while it does not reach the saturation value until impact energy comes to 50 eV. The hydrogen content in source species is a key factor to determine the hydrogen content in hydrogenated DLC films. When the hydrogen content in source species is high, the hydrogen content in hydrogenated DLC films is accordingly high.
Under spinning conditions, lubricant on islandic spot patterned M2 steel disc ex-periences centrifugal and tangential force components. Depending upon the relative position of the spots and the flow of lubricant, accumulation of lubricant in front of patterned islandic spots creates thrusting to mating part and subsequently reduces contact between the mating couple. Whilst wear debris is likely to be spun off the plateau of the spots to their neighbouring valleys so as to reduce wear. Hence, it gives favorable tribological characteristics. Aiming at verifying such mechanisms, studies were performed on M2 steel disc specimens slid with ASSAB 17 tool steel pin. The M2 steel disc specimens were respectively (i) machined with non-patterned (NP), (ii) etched to produce in-lined (INE) islandic patterns, and (iii) etched to produce staggered (STE) islandic spot patterns. Results indicated that the INE patterned discs gave most favorable wear characteristics, the NP of the worse characteristics whilst the STE ranged in the middle. However, the actual contact mechanism leads to the descending sequence of favorable friction behaviors nominally as: NP, INE and STE.
