Tribological behavior of Cr/a-C multilayered coating against PEEK under dry sliding condition

Abstract

PEEK is of increasing interest as self-lubricating material for high temperature applications due to its remarkable mechanical properties. However, PEEK is apt to be worn out under dry sliding condition. In this work, the amorphous carbon(a-C) coating interleaved with Cr layer was deposited by a DC magnetron sputtering technique. The friction behavior of the Cr/a-C multilayered coating against PEEK pair was performed in dry atmosphere using a pin-on-disk tribometer. The tribochemical reactions was discussed in terms of evolution of surface morphology and chemical composition of wear debris. Results showed that the tribological behavior of Cr/a-C coating against PEEK pair is dominated by a synergistic effect arisen from inherent graphitization of a-C layer and suppressed adhesive reaction of transferred Cr layer.