Effect of test atmosphere on the tribological behaviour of the non-hydrogenated diamond-like carbon coatings against 319 aluminum alloy and tungsten carbide

摘要

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings are potential candidates for dry and near-dry machining of aluminum alloys as aluminum shows much less tendency to adhere to the DLC surfaces compared to other industrial coatings such as TiN and CrN. In this study, non-hydrogenated DLC coatings were magnetron sputtered on M2 steel discs. The effects of the test atmosphere on their tribological behaviour against 319 Al and tungsten carbide (WC) were investigated by performing pin-on-disc tests in vacuum (6.65 x 10(-3) Pa), nitrogen, and air with humidity levels varying from 0 to 85% RH.