Tribological performance of chromium/chromium carbide multilayers deposited by r.f. magnetron sputtering

• Published in: Surface & coatings technology 2005-11, Vol.200 (5), p.1819-1824
• Main Authors: Gómez, M.A., Romero, J., Lousa, A., Esteve, J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Ball-on-disk; Chromium carbide; Contact of materials. Friction. Wear; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Friction; Materials science; Mechanical properties and methods of testing. Rheology. Fracture mechanics. Tribology; Metals. Metallurgy; Multilayer; Other topics in materials science; Physics; Production techniques; Scratch test; Surface treatment; Tribology; Wear
• ISSN: 0257-8972; 1879-3347
• DOI: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2005.08.060

Hard ceramic and ductile metal materials combined in multilayered structures are well-known to produce coatings with improved mechanical and tribological behavior. In this paper, we report the tribological properties of nanometric chromium/chromium carbide (Cr/CrC) multilayer coatings deposited by r.f. magnetron sputtering. Adhesion, sliding and abrasive wear tests were performed on Cr/CrC multilayers as well as on Cr 3C 2 reference coatings. The dry sliding wear behavior of Cr/CrC multilayers was investigated using the ball-on-disk technique with alumina and steel ball counterparts and the abrasive wear was tested against diamond powder wheel. Multilayer coatings have a higher adhesion on steel substrates than the single layer coatings. The multilayered coatings exhibited a dry sliding wear resistance three times better than the reference. The Cr/CrC multilayers showed dry friction coefficients around 0.65 and the Cr 3C 2 single layer around 0.3, for extended sliding tests. The debris resulting in ball-on-disk tests were analyzed by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and Raman. The main mechanisms of sliding wear are discussed.