Existing challenges in investigating the wear behaviour of nanostructured intermetallic coatings

摘要

As thin layer processing and nanotechnology progress, so does the need to test the surface properties of bulk or coated nanomaterials increase. For example, in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), surface tribological effects are dominant . Stiction, adhesion and localized wear between contacting components can result in rapid degradation of the functionality. Wear phenomena are highly dependent on the mechanical contact conditions; high loads are not relevant in the case of MEMS. However, a lot of research is conducted using macroscopic tribometers in the Newton load range. On the other hand, Lateral Force Microscopy (LFM) in the nanoNewton load range is common in the investigation of localized contacts. But the main drawback of this technique is that it correspond predominantly to a poorly defined single-asperity contact . It is not a good representation of the actual multi-asperity interactions in a real component, even a small one. An intermediate approach -meso load- is the optimum one for many applications. In this research work, a Falex/Tetra MUST microtribometer is used to bridge the gap between the macro- and nano-load testers, Figure 1.