The slip-rolling resistances of hard and stiff thin films under high Hertzian contact pressures can be improved by optimizing the 'coating/substrate systems'. It is known from former investigations that the so-called 'egg-shell' effect is no general hindrance for high slip-rolling resistance of thin hard coatings. The coating stability depends more on specific deposition process and coating/substrate interface design. In this article it is experimentally shown, that pure amorphous carbon thin films with hardness between 15 and 63 GPa can be slip-rolling resistant several million load cycles under a maximum Hertzian contact pressures of up to 3.0 GPa. Whereas all coatings were stable up to 10 million load cycles in paraffin oil at room temperature, reduced coating lifetime was found in SAE 0W-30 engine oil at 120°C. It was shown how the coating hardness and the initial coating surface roughness influence the running-in process and coating lifetime. No clear correlation between coating hardness and coating lifetime could be observed, but friction coefficients seem to be reduced with higher coating hardness. Very low friction down to ~0.03 in unmodified engine oils was found for the hardest ta-C film.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Die Wälzbeständigkeit von harten und steifen Dünnschichten unter hohen Hertzschen Kontaktpressungen kann durch die Optimierung des 'Beschichtung/Substrat Systems' deutlich verbessert werden. Aus vorangegangenen Untersuchungen ist bekannt, dass der so genannte 'Eierschaleneffekt' kein generelles Hindernis für eine hohe Wälzbeständigkeit für harte Dünnschichten darstellen muss. Die Stabilität der Beschichtungen hängt vielmehr von dem spezifischen Prozessparametern und dem Schicht/Substrat Grenzflächendesign ab. In diesem Artikel wird experimentell nachgewiesen, dass reine amorphe Kohlenstoffdünnschichten mit Härtewerten zwischen 15 und 63 GPa für mehrere Millionen Lastzyklen unter maximalen Hertzschen Kontaktpressungen bis 3.0 GPa überrollbeständig sein können. Während alle Beschichtungen bis 10 Millionen Lastzyklen in Paraffinöl bei Raumtemperatur keine Defekte aufweisen wurde unter Verwendung eines SAE 0W-30 Motorenöls bei 120°C eine Verringerung der Überrollbeständigkeit nachgewiesen. Es wurde nachgewiesen, wie die Schichthärte und ursprüngliche Oberflächenrauheit der Beschichtung den Einlaufprozess und die Lebensdauer beeinflussen. Es konnte keine offensichtliche Korrelation zwischen Schichthärte und Lebensdauer festgestellt werden, allerdings wurde eine scheinbare Reduktion des Reibwertes mit steigender Schichthärte beobachtet werden. Dabei zeigte die härteste ta-C Schicht unter Verwendung des Motorenöls sehr geringe Reibwerte mit ~0.03.
Nowadays, diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings are mainly used in many low loaded applications such as in machine tools, computer devices and many more.
Especially the automotive industry anticipates a benefit in applying such coatings in association with the lightweight construction of mechanical parts, for instance in gear components.
The ulterior motive is a global performance increase regarding environmental impact and power efficiency.
In recent years, the slip-rolling resistance of DLC, a-C and ta-C thin film coatings was improved considerably.
In view of the mechanical application of thin film coatings, there is still room for improvements.
It was experimentally shown, that a-C and ta-C coatings can be slip-rolling resistant at room temperature in unaddivated paraffin oil up to ten million cycles under Hertzian contact pressures up to P0max = 2.9 GPa.
Typically, the prime coated steel substrates were made of the hardened and tempered steels 100Cr6H and Cronidur 30.
The aim of the work this to overtake these results, i.e. at higher maximum Hertzian pressures up to P0max = 4.2 GPa.
Under such extreme conditions, it is necessary to choose special steels to avoid the failure of the substrate and to permit a higher load carrying capacity of the coating-substrate-system.
In consideration of the increased substrate properties, two high toughness spring steels and an ultra-high toughness aerospace steel were tested on a twin disc tribometer of the Amsler type as well as on an Optimol TwinDisc test rig under mixed/boundary conditions.
Different factors such as residual stresses of the substrate, influences of the lubrication, and wear behaviour were investigated.
The respective results are presented here.