Tribological investigations of TiC+a-C:H Coatings Manufactured on X38CrMoV5-1 Steel Using PVD Technology

Abstract

X38CrMoV5-1 steel is a typical tool steel commonly used in forging and plastic moulding industry for production of ejectors, slides, dies, etc. In plastics moulding a lot of these parts sustain relative movement. Because of this, some seizing or micro-welding may appear, especially when lubrication is not used. For many years, the different types of protective coatings were developed to avoid such problems. Most of the obtained solutions relate to the manufacturing of low friction coatings obtained by different nitriding processes and by CVD or PVD methods. In this article, the friction coefficients and the wear resistances of TiC+a-C:H protective coatings manufactured on X38CrMoV5-1 steel samples by using PVD technology are studied. The investigations are based on tribometer tests in different temperature conditions. The process of deposition of PVD coatings was realized by using multisource, hybrid factory-scale equipment of type URM 079. This equipment allows for deposition of coatings by a physical method. The tribological tests were performed using a precision high temperature tribometer under ambient and high temperature conditions with a steel and corundum balls as a counter-samples. In this paper, the results of these tribological tests are presented. It is shown that the measured friction coefficient of steel samples with PVD coatings is significantly lower than the friction coefficient of uncoated steel. It is also shown that X38CrMoV5-1 steel samples with manufactured TiC+a-C:H coatings are characterized by a very low friction coefficient and high wear resistance.