High temperature tribological behaviour of carbon based (B4C and DLC) coatings in sliding contact with aluminum

Carbon based coatings, particularly diamond-like carbon (DLC) films are known to resist aluminum adhesion and reduce friction at room temperature. This attractive tribological behaviour is useful for applications such as tool coatings used for aluminum forming and machining. However, for those operations that are performed at elevated temperatures (e.g. hot forming) or that generate frictional heat during contact (e.g. dry machining) the suitable coatings are required to maintain their tribological properties at high temperatures. Candidates for these demanding applications include boron carbide (B4C) and DLC coatings. An understanding of the mechanisms of friction, wear and adhesion of carbon based coatings against aluminum alloys at high temperatures will help in designing coatings with improved high temperature tribological properties. With this goal in mind, this study focused on B4C and a hydrogenated DLC coatings sliding against a 319 grade cast aluminum alloy by performing pin-on-disk experiments at temperatures up to 400 oC. Experimental results have shown that the 319 Al/B4C tribosystem generated coefficient of friction (COF) values ranging between 0.42 and 0.65, in this temperature range. However, increased amounts of aluminum adhesion were detected in the B4C wear tracks at elevated temperatures. Focused ion beam (FIB) milled cross sections of the wear tracks revealed that the coating failed due to shearing along the columnar grain boundaries of the coating. The 319 Al/DLC tribosystem maintained a low COF (0.15-0.06) from room temperature up to 200 oC. This was followed by an abrupt increase to 0.6 at 400 oC. The deterioration of friction behaviour at T > 200 oC was attributed to the exhaustion of hydrogen and hydroxyl passivants on the carbon transfer layer formed on the Al pin.