Low-friction behavior of microcrystalline diamond coatings, characterized by the oscillating relaxation tribometer

摘要

This paper presents a new technique for describing low-friction systems. It is called the "relaxation tribometer technique", and it is based on the study of a sliding contact as tested in planar oscillating non stationnary conditions. It gives direct access to the friction law of the tribosystem, i.e. the level of friction and its dependence on the sliding velocity. This technique has been successfully applied to the characterization of microcrystalline diamond films. Different roughness levels have been prepared by a partial polishing of these films. Results show that the damping due to friction is strongly dependent on the level of roughness. We will discuss the results in terms of the different contributions to friction.