Wear properties of DLC and plasma sprayed WC structure coating

Diamond-like carbon film (DLC) with an interlayer of plasma sprayed tungsten-carbide (WC) was prepared on an aluminum alloy substrate (A5052) by a hybrid process of plasma-based ion implantation and deposition using hydrocarbon gas. Typical thicknesses of DLC and WC films were 1 mu m and 100 mu m, respectively. The hardness and friction coefficient of DLC were typically 15 GPa and 0.15, respectively. The durability of DLC/WC/A5052 system was evaluated from the measurement of the friction coefficient by a ball-on-disk friction tester in which the loaded ball was drawn repeatedly across a sample and the load was increased with each traverse. For the DLC/A5052 system, which has no WC interlayer, the DLC film was broken quickly because of distortion of the substrate. For the DLC/WC/A5052 system, on the other hand, the DLC film was excellent in durability for long running. The wear rate of rubber rotor to the metal rotor was measured by a roller-pitching-type wear testing machine, showing large reduction in wear rate using DLC-coated metal rotor.