Sputtered silver films to improve chromium carbide based solid lubricant coatings for use to 900 C

摘要

Thin silver films, 250 to 3500 A thick, were sputtered onto PS200, a plasma sprayed, chromium carbide based solid lubricant coating, to reduce run-in wear and improve tribological properties. The coating contains bonded chromium carbide as the wear resistant base stock with silver and barium fluoride/calcium fluoride eutectic added as low and high temperature lubricants respectively. Potential applications for the PS200 coating are cylinder wall/piston ring lubrication for Stirling engines and foil bearing journal lubrication. In this preliminary program, the silver film overlay thickness was optimized based on tests using a pin-on-disk tribometer. The friction and wear studies were performed in a helium atmosphere at temperatures from 25 to 760 C with a sliding velocity of 2.7 m/s under a 4.9 N load. Films between 1000 and 1500 A provide the best lubrication of the counterface material. The films enrich the sliding surface with lubricant and reduce the initial abrasiveness of the as ground, plasma-sprayed coating surface, thus reducing wear.