Tribological properties of polymer composites with diamond-like carbon flakes

摘要

Composites of epoxy resin with diamond-like carbon (DLC) flakes were fabricated. The DLC flakes wereprepared from a DLC film deposited by chemical vapor deposition on an aluminum substrate. The tribologicalproperties of composites were evaluated in air and water environments using a reciprocating friction testerand an AISI 440C mating ball. The friction coefficient of the epoxy composite decreased from 0.90 to 0.69 inair and from 0.71 to 0.29 in water with the addition of DLC flakes. The specific wear rate of the composite alsodecreased from 5 x 10~(-5) to 7 x 10~(-6) mm~3/N m in air and from 4 x 10~(-5) to 4 x 10~(-6) mm~3/N m in water. Incontrast, the wear of the mating ball increased. Furthermore, the tribological properties of DLC flakes as anadditive in water were evaluated. The suspension of powdered DLC in water reduced the friction coefficientof epoxy resin against the AISI 440C mating ball. Furthermore, the wear of the resin was negligibly small,although severe abrasive wear on the mating ball was observed.