APPLICATION NOTE

By: S. G. Corcoran Hysitron, Inc.

Nanoindentation of Tribological Coatings on Steel

Hard coatings are often used on the surfaces of steel components in order to increase their service life. These tribological coatings prevent wear between contacting parts, such as the surfaces of tools or the contacting surfaces of gear teeth. Since the mechanical properties of a coating can be greatly influenced by deposition parameters, coating reliability is often a concern. Nanoindentation provides a fast and reliable technique for evaluating the performance of these hard coatings. In this report, the Hysitron TriboScope was used to evaluate the mechanical properties of two different types of coatings. The TriboScope is a quantitative depth-sensing nanoindenter that can be interfaced with an AFM to provide in-situ imaging. With the high

Figure 2: 1 mm scan of a 3000 mN indent on a WC/C coating on steel.

spatial resolution of the AFM, it is possible to position indentations with nanometer resolution. The coatings evaluated in this work include two diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings and one tungsten carbide/carbon (WC/C) coating. All of the films were deposited on carbon steel disks. Due to the roughness of the steel substrates the in-situ imaging was used to place the indents on smooth areas, which greatly reduces the errors associated with standard indentation testing. For each indentation performed, the sample was imaged prior to indentation. After the load displacement data was recorded, the surface was

Figure 1: 2 mm pre-scan of a WC/C coating on steel.

1 0 025 VA L L E Y V I E W R D. M I N N E A P O L I S , M N 553 4 4

T E L : 1 - 9 52 - 8 3 5 - 6 3 6 6

FA X : 1 - 9 52 - 8 3 5 - 6 1 6 6

W W W. H Y S I T R O N . C O M

imaged a second time to record a three-dimensional image of the indentation for further analysis. The applied-load and penetration-depth data were analyzed to determine the hardness and elastic modulus of the film. Figures 1 and 2 show the pre-scan and post-scan TriboScope surface images of the WC/C film, respectively. In Figure 2, a 3000 mN maximumload indentation was performed using a three-sided pyramidal diamond tip. The contact depth for this indentation at maximum load was 103 nm. The measured hardness and elastic modulus obtained from 25 indentations were 121 GPa and 1137 GPa, respectively. Loaddisplacement data recorded for each of the
Table 1: Measured hardness, elastic modulus, and contact depth for the three samples tested in Figure 3.

three samples is shown in Figure 3. The data shows that for the same load, DLC Sample A resists deformation far more than DLC Sample B and WC/C. The DLC coatings were provided by two different manufacturers, and had the same specifications. However, the mechanical properties of the coatings indicate that one of the two DLC coatings was far superior to the other. Table 1 summarizes the results for the hardness, elastic modulus, and maximum depth for the three samples. Although Samples A and B are both DLC, the enhanced hardness value measured for Sample A suggests better overall performance in the field.

Conclusion
Since the mechanical properties of a coating can be significantly affected by the deposition parameters, coating reliability is often a concern. Data from the nanoindentation tests performed on the Hysitron TriboScope revealed the superiority of DLC Sample A, as it resists deformation far better than DLC Sample B and WC/C.
Figure 3: Loaddisplacement data for three tribological coatings on steel.

CER02ANr1d1

1 0 025 VA L L E Y V I E W R D. M I N N E A P O L I S , M N 553 4 4

T E L : 1 - 9 52 - 8 3 5 - 6 3 6 6

FA X : 1 - 9 52 - 8 3 5 - 6 1 6 6

W W W. H Y S I T R O N . C O M