Effect of tribological media on tribological properties of multilayer Cr(N)/C(DLC) coatings

In this research, Cr(N)/C(DLC) multilayered coatings were deposited on M2 steel substrates by an unbalanced magnetron sputtering technique. By varying the substrate rotation speed, four multilayered coatings with different bilayer thickness were produced. The bilayer thickness and structure of multilayered coatings were characterized by low-angle XRD, XPS depth profile, and cross-section TEM observation. The tribological investigation focused on the effect of layer thickness and tribological media on tribological property of the multilayer coatings against Al counterface. A pin-on-disc tribometer with a tribological medium container was used to investigate the wear behaviours of the four multilayered coatings under dry and wet (distilled water and S500 coolant) sliding. A stylus surface profilometer was used to measure wear rate. The investigation of wear tracks and wear mechanism was performed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The research results showed that coatings with different bilayer period performed different tribological behaviour. The proper tribological media applied in the wear tests could improve the wear properties of multilayer coatings.