Aim of the investigation is to characterize selected PEEK-composites in vacuum environment. Oscillating sliding friction was investigated with a pin-on-disc configuration in high vacuum (10-5 mbar) at room temperature, -40 °C, +100 °C and +160 °C. The contact pressure was 1 MPa and 7 MPa respectively , the maximum sliding velocity 0.1 m/s. Furthermore, tests in ultra high vacuum (10-9 mbar) were carried out with flat and spherical pins at 1 MPa and 60 MPa respectively. Among the tested materials MoS2 filled PEEK shows the best tribological performance in vacuum. Particularly, in the lower temperature range and at higher loads the friction behaviour is improved by MoS2 content.
Supporting elements between large superconducting magnets like the field coils in WENDELSTEIN 7-X have to sustain high loads while allowing a certain amount of tangential movement without any stick-slip motion. In model tests with reciprocating friction in liquid helium and vacuum a PVD-MoS2-coating has proven its suitability for these components. It showed a very stable sliding behaviour with a friction coefficient below 0.1 without coating failure under all test conditions.
The main part of a narrow support element (NSE) of the W7-X superconducting coil system is an aluminium bronze pad, PVD coated on its spherical surface with MoS2, which slides against the flat surface of the stainless steel coil housing, coated with MoS2 spray. The operational requirements of the NSEs are: vacuum of p < 10-6 mbar, temperature T ~4 K, maximum load P ~1500 kN, typical displacement ≤5 mm, smooth sliding and no stick-slip events. The paper describes test results obtained with a downscaled NSE at T = 4.2 and 77 K. During the test the NSEs were submerged in liquid helium and nitrogen, respectively. Whereas the LN2 test ran smoothly for up to ~15,000 cycles, the test in LHe showed stick-slip from the very first cycle. The stick-slip disappeared after ~50 cycles. Post mortem analysis of the tested parts revealed that in case of LHe the sprayed MoS2 film was removed during the first 30-100 cycles by blistering and flaking. The reason for the loss of adhesion at LHe temperature is not known, several possible causes are under discussion. Further experiments under vacuum and at T ~4 K are being prepared which are expected to help in clarifying the issue.
Mittels lasergesteuerter gepulster Vakuumbogentechnologie (Laser-Arc) wurde eine reihe von reinen MoS2-Schichten sowie Kombinationsschichten aus MoS2 und tetraedrischem amorphen Kohlenstoff (ta-C) hergestellt. Mit diesen Schichtvarianten erfolgten tribologische Tests im Vakuum sowie in Atmosphäre. Dabei wurden im Hochvakuum reibungskoeffizienten bis zu 0,005 gemessen. Durch die Verwendung einer ta-C unterschicht konnte eine Lebensdauer von über 5×105 Lastzyklen erreicht werden. Zudem erwies sich diese unterschicht als vorteilhaft für das tribologische Verhalten der MoS2/ta-C Schichten unter atmosphärischen Bedingungen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A series of MoS2 and combined MoS2/ta-C coatings were prepared by lasercontrolled arc evaporation (Laser-Arc) in order to study the tribological coating behaviour under vacuum and atmospheric conditions. Very low friction coefficients down to 0.005 were measured under high vacuum. By using a ta-C underlayer beneath the MoS2 a increased lifetime up to 5×105 load cycles could be obtained. Also under atmospheric conditions the underlayer had a beneficial effect on coating performance.
MoS2 is a suitable solid lubricant for environments free of oxygen or water vapor (i.e. vacuum). Humid air degrades film properties due to oxidation accompanied by high wear and increasing coefficients of friction. The present study aims at the further development of sputtered pure MoS2 coatings, extending their applicability to varying environmental conditions by increasing the resistance against humidity. The systematic coating development process is supported by using an experimental Box–Behnken design with variations of the deposition parameters cathode voltage, target/substrate distance, temperature and argon gas pressure. In contrast to common one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) studies, this approach enables a determination of interactions between deposition process parameters and tribological–mechanical MoS2 film properties. The tribological improvement focuses on a maximization of wear resistance in air and vacuum measured in ball-on-disk experiments. The evaluated mechanical properties are hardness, elastic modulus and residual stresses. These stresses were determined by the substrate curvature method. The study reveals that the residual stress state in the films and the hardness-to-modulus ratio are crucial for their tribological performance in humid air and vacuum environments. After a detailed determination of the relationships between deposition conditions and film properties, some selected microstructural analyses are presented which show that a substantially basal orientation of the lattice has positive effects on wear but also causes anisotropic film properties which result in fissile fracture of the coating if strong shock or point loads occur.
The sliding performance of PEEK composites was investigated in vacuum environment. Tests were performed with carbon fibre reinforced PEEK composites filled with PTFE, and MoS2 or graphite as further solid lubricant. Polymer samples were tested in a pin-on-disc configuration continuously sliding against CrNi-steel. Depending on sliding speed and temperature, the MoS2 filled composites showed high wear resistance and friction coefficients as low as PVD coatings.