The friction and wear behaviour of thin hard coatings, such as TiN and the promising class of C-based coatings (a-C, a-C:H, and diamond for example), are compared under oscillating and reciprocating sliding conditions. The typical effects of test parameters, such as stroke, frequency, normal force, relative humidity and test duration, are described as a basis for the proper selection of test conditions or, conversely, for the selection of suitable coatings for particular practical applications.
Friction and wear data from over 1000 vibrating tests using thin hard coatings against 100Cr6 and against Al2O3 have been compiled in a database. This allows easy manipulation and comparison of test results. Using selection criteria and filter procedures (e. g., lifetime of coatings, friction limits, and critical wear rate), suitable coating systems for different test conditions can be chosen from the database. The effects of test parameters on friction and wear behaviour and changes have anyway to be known for meaningful tribotesting, as well as for the selection of coatings.
Polycrystalline diamond layers were deposited onto the titanium alloy Ti6Al4V via microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD). It is shown that the diamond film reduces wear and friction immensely compared with uncoated titanium/titanium tribo systems. An additional polishing process of the CVD-diamond layer improves the wear behavior even further. An influence of air humidity is found.
In addition, different ceramic materials (Al2O3, SiC, Si3N4, ZrO2) were tested against as-deposited and polished CVD-diamond layers. Al2O3 and Si3N4 exhibit very good wear behavior accompanied by very low friction against as-deposited CVD-diamond. SiC and ZrO2, however, show somewhat inferior wear and friction behavior. Suggestions are made to explain the different performance. Again, a wear increase is found with increasing humidity. Polishing of CVD-diamond layers improves the tribological performance further.