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The Microstructure and Wear Behavior of Cr- and W-DLC Coatings Sputter-Deposited onto AISI 52100 Substrates as Elucidated using Focused-Ion-Beam SEM

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2011

Clark V. Cooper
Affiliation:
United Technologies Research Center, East Hartford, CT 06118-1127, U.S.A.
Rizhi Wang
Affiliation:
Princeton University, Princeton Materials Institute, Princeton, NJ 08540-5211, U.S.A.
Hyung K. Yoon
Affiliation:
Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, IL 61656-1875, U.S.A.
Mahmoud A. Taher
Affiliation:
Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, IL 61656-1875, U.S.A.
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Abstract

Magnetron sputtering has been used to deposit metal-containing, diamond-like-carbon (Me-DLC) coatings onto substrates composed of AISI 52100 steel in quenched-and-tempered condition. Coatings of two distinctly different compositions, one containing Was the metallic constituent and the second containing Cr, have been deposited in a plasma containing Ar and C2H2.Interrupted, unidirectional sliding experiments of the block-on-ring type have been conducted in a poly-alpha-olefin (PAO) lubricant at a load of 667 N for discrete numbers of cycles, N, of between 10 and 1000. Focused-ion-beam, scanning electron microscopy (FIB/SEM) has been applied to characterize the morphology of as-deposited and worn Me-DLC coatings. This technique has resulted in the determination that the Cr-DLC coating, deposited using the investigated processing parameters, fractures in a brittle manner through the formation and propagation of “tunnel cracks,” which unzip in a direction parallel to the grinding direction outside of the region of contact. Conversely, the application of specific processing parameters to deposit W-DLC produces a coating that wears by gradual recession, consistent with polishing wear. First-principles-based analysis shows that the state of residual stress is critically important in the behavior of the coating.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002

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