Fretting wear resistance of DLC hard coatings deposited on nitrided martensitic stainless steel

In this work, the fretting wear behavior and adhesion of DLC coatings deposited by PACVD on nitrided and non-nitrided martensitic stainless steels were studied. Fretting wear tests were carried out with different duration and loads and pin-on-disk was also performed. The adhesion was evaluated by Rockwell C indentation and scratch test with constant and variable loads. The coating thickness was 2.5 μm and the nitrided layer, 11 μm. The coating hardness and Young's Modulus were about 16 and 110 GPa, respectively. The duplex samples resulted with better adhesion than the only coated samples in all test conditions. In the scratch test, the critical load in the duplex sample was 58 N and in the coated sample, 12 N, showing a brittle failure mode. In the Rockwell C indentation test, the adhesion was better in the duplex sample because the nitriding treatment changed the failure mode of the system. The wear resistance was also related to adhesion, since in the experiments with high loads and long durations adhesive failures could be detected when stresses reached the interface and the substrate. In the duplex sample, the nitrided case, with higher load bearing capacity than the substrate, resulted in a better wear behavior of the system.