Friction and Wear Properties of CrSiCN/SiC Tribopairs in Water Lubrication

Abstract

CrSiCN coatings (3.4 at.% Si) were prepared on 316L stainless steels using unbalanced magnetron sputtering. According to the analysis results of x-ray diffractometer and x-ray photoelectrons spectroscopy, silicon in CrSiCN coatings mainly presented in the amorphous forms of a-SiN, a-SiCN and a-SiC. The hardness and Young’s modulus of CrSiN coatings were 19.4 ± 0.6 and 306.1 ± 5.9 GPa, respectively. In addition, the ball-on-disk sliding tests of CrSiCN/SiC tribopairs were performed in distilled water at varying velocities (0.1-0.5 m/s) and loads (2-12 N). The friction coefficient of tribopairs presented a decreasing trend with respect to velocity at low applied loads (≤ 4 N). To be specific, the low friction coefficient of 0.05-0.14 accompanied with polished wear scar was obtained at high velocities and low loads. Finally, the wear mechanism map of CrSiCN/SiC tribopairs was proposed based on a combination of friction coefficient, wear scar morphology and wear rates of tribopairs.