Chapter 8 - Protective Hard Coatings for Tribological Applications

Abstract

Tribology is an important and interesting aspect of mechanical engineering especially pertaining to the machining and drilling industries. Different types lubricants have been developed, ball bearings designed, and advanced technologies invoked to reduce the wear and tear of machines during their operation. An important approach involves coating of the surface of the relevant parts of the machines such as tool tips, drill beats, ball bearings, piston barrels, etc. with coatings of suitable materials having excellent tribological properties. Coatings of a large number of materials including alumina, silicon carbide, titanium carbide, tantalum carbide, tungsten carbide, titanium nitride, boron nitride, diamond and diamond-like carbon or composites of these materials show promise of being used as protective hard coatings. This chapter provides a brief overview of the mode of deposition, tribology, and prospective fields of applications of a few of these materials with special emphasis on hard coatings of alumina, diamond, and diamond-like carbon.