1. Introduction
Diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating is an amorphous carbon material, mainly composed of a three-dimensional network of sp3 bond carbon atoms in diamond structure and sp2 bond carbon atoms in graphite structure. DLC has excellent properties such as high hardness, low coefficient of friction, good wear and corrosion resistance, wide light transmission range, excellent biocompatibility among others, which offer wide application prospects in the fields of industrial mold, automobile, microcomputer, information storage, aerospace, etc. [1,2,3]. Due to its extremely low coefficient of friction and good anti-wear properties under extreme working conditions, it has shown important application value in the high technology field of national defense and military industry and has become one of the research hotspots in the field of global carbon materials and tribology [4].
With the popularization of DLC coatings, silicon (Si) diamond-like films (Si-DLC) have been found to have higher hardness, smaller friction coefficient, higher wear resistance and better thermal stability performance [5,6,7]. The microstructure of Si-DLC films prepared by different methods and processes have great differences, which can affect various properties of Si-DLC films, giving theoretical and technical possibilities for the property adjustment of Si-DLC films. Si-DLC films have a wide range of applications in mechanical, acoustic, optical, electromagnetic and medical fields [8,9]. The conversion of sp3 bonds to sp2 bonds occurs when general DLC is annealed at 300 °C, leading to the carbonization of DLC films. Therefore, in practical production and scientific research, Si-DLC films are increasingly used. The main sources of Si in the preparation of Si-DLC films are silane (SiH4), tetramethylsilane (TMS), monomethyl silane (CH3SiH3) and silicon plates. Varma A et al. [10] showed that when Si-DLC containing 20% of silicon wafers at 740 °C, the sp3 bond transition to sp2. M. Ikeyama et al. [11] showed that the addition of silicon has a great effect on the corrosion resistance of DLC. Si-DLC films with the addition of silicon can improve the bond strength between DLC and substrate, which leads to the improvement of the overall properties of DLC.
However, the actual production application of Si-DLC coatings still faces excessive tensile stress and low substrate adhesion strength, which leads to the limitation of the promotion and application of Si-DLC coatings. In order to improve the comprehensive performance of Si-DLC, this paper prepares Si-DLC with different transition layers (AlTiSiN, AlCrN and AlTiCrN) on the surface of 304 austenitic stainless steel by using ion plating technology and investigates the properties of the coatings to provide some guidance for the preparation of Si-DLC coatings with excellent performance.
2. Experimental Details
2.1. Coating Preparation
The coating preparation was carried out using the multi-arc ion plating equipment ICS-S800 from ICS, Italy. The targets used were: TiSi target with an atomic ratio of 80:20 and a purity of 99.99%; AlTi target with an atomic ratio of 67:33 and a purity of 99.99%; AlCr target with an atomic ratio of 70:30 and a purity of 99.99%; Cr target with a purity of 99.99%; and Ti target with a purity of 99.99%.
First, 304 austenitic stainless steel was chosen as the substrate material for the experiment: the geometry of the specimen is a small round block with a diameter of 30 mm and a thickness of 7 mm, and its chemical composition is shown in Table 1. The substrate material was ground with sandpaper from 80, 120, 240, 320, 600 to 800 mesh in turn, and finally polished with a P-1 metallographic type polishing machine by adding W2.5 artificial diamond abrasive paste until the surface showed a mirror effect. Then, before coating, the polished substrate was put into a 2CRD200 ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning. The solution in cylinders 1–5 was extracted sequentially in the vacuum chamber for step-by-step cleaning. Firstly, the alkaline cleaning agent was extracted from cylinders 1 and 2 for ultrasonic degreasing of the specimen, and the solution temperature was 60 °C for both. Then, from cylinder 3 and 4, to extract deionised water for ultrasonic immersion rinsing, temperatures of 50 and 55 °C, respectively, were used to remove the residual cleaning agent on the surface of the substrate to ensure its surface was clean. Finally, cold water was extracted from tank 5 for cold drying and drying. The total cleaning process took 39 min. After drying, the substrate was clamped on the rotating furnace rack and the sample clamping during coating by rotating three-fold on the rack. Then, the rotating furnace rack was pushed into a vacuum furnace chamber, and then a mechanical pump and molecular pump were started to pump the air pressure inside the vacuum furnace chamber from normal atmosphere to 0.5 Pa. Waiting for the air pressure in the furnace chamber to reach the set value, the coating preparation procedure was started.
Si-DLC with multiple gradient transition layers (AlTiSiN, AlCrN and AlTiCrN) was prepared by changing different types of targets.
To prepare the Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN as the base layer, the AlTiSiN transition layer was prepared first, and then the surface Si-DLC was prepared. The TiSi target was the No. 1 target, and the No. 2 and No. 4 were two identical AlTi targets. After target cleaning and workpiece ion etching at a furnace cavity temperature of 420 °C, the TiSi targets were first coated with TiN by a current of 120 A at a bias voltage of −120 V, a nitrogen flow rate of 180 sccm, and a vacuum of 1.8 Pa. Then, the substrate bias was adjusted to −80 V, and the vacuum was adjusted to 2.8 Pa, while the AlTi targets of No. 2 and No. 4 were coated with Then, the substrate bias voltage was adjusted to −80 V, the vacuum level was adjusted to 2.8 Pa, and the AlTi targets No. 2 and No. 4 worked simultaneously with the Ti target No. 3 at a current of 120 A. The two AlTi targets gradually increased the target current by 10 A every 5 min until 160 A, and then gradually reduced it to 150 A by 10 A every 5 min A. Then, the TiSi target was operated at 80 A, and the two AlTi targets were operated at 150 A for 20 min. Finally, the AlTiSiN transition layer was prepared by turning off the current of the two AlTi targets and leaving the TiSi target alone for 25 min. Then, the Si-DLC layer was prepared. The preparation of the Si-DLC layer should be carried out at a furnace cavity temperature of about 100 °C to prevent the graphitization of the Si-DLC layer above 300 °C. The prepared AlTiSiN transition layer was first subjected to ion etching for 30 min to enhance the bonding strength between the Si-DLC layer and the AlTiSiN transition layer, and tetramethylsilane (TMS) was first passed for 4 min at a bias pressure of −700 V and a vacuum of 3.5 Pa with a gas flow rate of 86 sccm. Then, the gas flow rate of TMS was gradually reduced from 60 sccm to 40 sccm to 20 sccm, while the incoming C2H2 is gradually increased from 30 sccm to 90 sccm and finally to 170 sccm. The Si-DLC was prepared as a surface layer by passing C2H2 gas alone at 170 sccm for 20 min.
To prepare Si-DLC coatings with AlCrN as the base layer, the AlCrN transition layer was prepared first, followed by the surface Si-DLC layer. A 1 Cr target (target position 1) and 2 AlCr targets (target positions 2 and 4) were used. To prepare Si-DLC coating with AlTiCrN as the base layer, AlTiCrN transition layer is prepared first, and then the surface Si-DLC layer is prepared. 1 Cr target (target position 1) and 2 AlTi targets (target positions 2 and 4) are used. The conditions were kept the same as the preparation of the Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN as the base layer, except that the target types were different.
2.2. Structural and Performance Characterization Methods
The surface morphology of Si-DLC coatings with AlTiSiN, AlCrN and AlTiCrN nitride multiple gradient transition layers was observed by scanning electron microscopy (Crossbeam Model 550, Zeiss, Jena, Germany), and the surface quality of the coatings was determined by analyzing the surface morphological characteristics of the coatings. EHT is 5.00 kV, Signal A is InLens, I Probe is 500 pA, Mag is 10.11K X, and WD is 9.7 mm. The phase composition of Si-DLC coatings with three transition layers was determined by X-ray diffractometer (XRD-61100 type 7X, Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan), and the Cu-Kα radiation target was selected as the radiation source with a radiation wavelength of 0.154 nm, a grazing incidence angle of 2°, a measurement range of 20°~120°, and a scan. The diamond-like structures of the Si-DLC coatings of the three transition layers were characterized using confocal micro Raman spectroscopy (RM2000, Renishaw, Gloucestershire, UK). The hardness of the three transition layers of Si-DLC coatings was measured by a nanoindenter (G200, Agilent, Santa Clara, CA, USA) at a depth of about 500 nm, with a spatial resolution of 1 μm in the range of 50–4000 cm−1 and a confocal sampling depth of 1 μm. Three points were measured, and the average value was calculated. A 3D confocal microscope (VK-X1000K, Keyence, Osaka, Japan) was used to measure the surface roughness of the specimen coating, and the observation was performed at a magnification of 50 times, with a height display resolution of 0.5 nm, a width display resolution of 1 nm, and a dynamic range of 16 bit scale, and coating roughness data were obtained from the acquired microscopic images.
The wear test of three different transition layers of Si-DLC coatings was carried out using a ball mill, and the frictional wear performance and anti-spalling performance of Si-DLC coatings with different transition layers were analyzed by the scratch morphology and local characteristics generated by sliding dry friction. The test conditions were a stroke of 10 mm, a stainless steel ball diameter of 20 mm, a steel ball rotation speed of 86 r/min, and a load of 2 N, and a temperature of 25 °C at room temperature and a humidity of 55%. Microscopic observations were recorded at 5 min intervals, and observation tests were performed at the 5th min, 10th min, 15th min, 20th min, etc., and the tests were repeated three times. Finally, the wear test was stopped when the film layer was observed to be severely damaged.
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Microscopic Morphology of the Coating
The surface morphology of the Si-DLC coatings with different transition layers was observed by SEM, as shown in Figure 1. From Figure 1, it is obvious that the Si-DLC coatings prepared with three different nitride transition layers have surface defects such as pits and “large particles” of different degrees, which are typical for the preparation of Si-DLC coatings using multi-arc ion plating equipment [12,13]. The Si-DLC coating with AlCrN as the transition layer has the highest number of “large particles” and pits on the surface, which is shown in Figure 1b. The sizes of large particles and pits were counted, and it was found that the diameter of large particles of Si-DLC coatings with AlCrN as the transition layer was generally around 1 μm, and the diameter of pits was around 1.5 μm, while there were also “large particles” of 0.5 and 0.1 μm in diameter. Relatively speaking, the density of “large particles” in the Si-DLC coatings with AlTiSiN as the transition layer in Figure 1a and AlTiCrN as the transition layer in Figure 1c is sparser than that in Figure 1b, and the number of “large particles” with diameters of 0.1~0.5 μm are also less in number, indicating that the surface of the Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN as the transition layer and AlTiCrN as the transition layer is relatively better, which may be related to the elements of the transition layer and the number of layers of the gradient transition layer [14].
3.2. Coating Composition Analysis
The energy spectra of Si-DLC coatings with different transition layers are shown in Figure 2. The atomic number fractions of C elements in the Si-DLC coatings with different transition layers are all in the range of 60 at.% to 85 at.%, and they all show the highest content of C elements, which is consistent with the objective situation that the surface layer is a DLC coating. The atomic number fractions of Al element, Ti element and Si element in the Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN as the transition layer are 51.8 at.%, 5.17 at.% and 3.63 at.%, respectively; the atomic number fractions of Al element and Cr element in the Si-DLC coating with AlCrN as the transition layer are 2.46 at.% and 8.68%, respectively; the atomic number fraction of Al element and Cr element in the Si-DLC coating with AlTiCrN as the transition layer. The atomic number fractions of Al, Ti and Cr elements in the Si-DLC coating with AlTiCrN as the transition layer are 24.95 at.%, 4.91 at.% and 3.91 at.%, respectively. The elemental profiles of all three different transition layers are consistent with the actual situation. For the small amount of O elements appearing in the Si-DLC coatings of the different transition layers, the atomic number fractions are in the range of 2.45 at.%~3.32 at.%, which is analyzed and considered to be related to the small amount of oxidation occurring in the coatings [15]. For the small amount of Cr elements appearing in Figure 2a and the small amount of Fe elements appearing in Figure 2b, this is correlated with the 304 stainless steel matrix containing Fe and Cr.
3.3. Coating XRD Physical Phase Analysis
The XRD patterns of the Si-DLC coatings with different transition layers are shown in Figure 3. In Figure 3, it is found that the peak distribution of the Si-DLC coating with different transition layers has five main crystallographic planes in the (111) plane, (200) plane, (202) plane, (400) plane and (622) plane. The (200) and (202) diffraction peaks appear at 42.600° and 49.554° for all three different transition layers of Si-DLC. This indicates that the superficial Si-DLC coating does not undergo a shift in the meritocratic orientation due to the change of the transition layer. G(111) facets at 36.672° are shown in both Figure 3b,c, while no G(111) crystal facets are found in Figure 3a, which may be related to the fact that the AlCrN and AlTiCrN transition layers contain CrN phase or AlCrN phase, while the AlTiSiN transition layer does not contain CrN phase or AlCrN phase. In particular, (210) and (222) diffraction peaks appear at 43.231° and 43.379° for the AlTiSiN/Si-DLC coating in Figure 3a, while (210) and (222) crystallographic surfaces do not appear at Figure 3b,c, which is related to the presence of Si2N3 phase in the AlTiSiN transition layer [16,17].
3.4. Raman Spectroscopy Analysis
The Raman spectra of the Si-DLC coatings with different transition layers of AlTiSiN, AlCrN and AlTiCrN nitride multiple gradients, respectively, is shown in Figure 4. Similar characteristic peaks exist in the Raman spectra of Figure 4a–c. The peak near 1520 cm−1 in Figure 4 is the G peak of Si-DLC, which corresponds to the sp2 lamellar cluster structure within the film and originates from the in-plane stretching vibration of the C-C bond in the graphite structure. The peak at around 1325 cm−1 is the D peak of Si-DLC, which corresponds to the disordered graphite boundary grain vibrations [18,19]. Gaussian fitting of Si-DLC coatings with different transition layers of AlTiSiN, AlCrN and AlTiCrN nitride multiple gradients showed consistent peak positions corresponding to the three different transition layers of Si-DLC coatings, with the G peak position found around 1520 cm−1 and the D peak found around 1325 cm−1 for the transition layers of AlTiSiN and AlCrN. The relative intensity ratios of the D-peak to the G-peak of the Si-DLC coatings with AlCrN and AlTiCrN were 0.71, 0.63 and 0.69, respectively. This indicates that among the three different transition layers of Si-DLC, the Si-DLC coating primed with AlCrN has the highest sp2 content within the Si-DLC coating, the Si-DLC coating is more inclined to graphite structure, and the Si-DLC coating primed with AlTiSiN The Si-DLC coating primed with AlTiSiN has the highest sp3 content and the Si-DLC coating is more inclined to a diamond structure.
3.5. Roughness, Hardness and Thickness Analysis
The surface 3D morphology of Si-DLC coatings with different transition layers is shown in Figure 5. From Figure 5a,b, two Si-DLC coatings can be seen with AlTiSiN and AlCrN as the transition layers have unevenly distributed surface protrusions on the surface, while the Si-DLC coating with AlTiCrN as the transition layer in Figure 5c has the least surface protrusions and a smoother surface. The roughness of the Si-DLC coating with different transition layers was analyzed by using line roughness and surface roughness. For the line roughness measurement of the coating, three parallel lines were arbitrarily taken on the coating surface, and then the average value was taken as the line roughness result of the coating. For the surface roughness measurement, the entire coating area was selected as the measurement range, and the two roughness results were finally tabulated in Table 2. From the data in Table 2, it can be seen that the average value of line roughness of Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN as the transition layer is Ra0.13 µm, the average value of line roughness of Si-DLC coating with AlCrN as the transition layer is Ra0.18 µm, and the average value of line roughness of Si-DLC coating with AlTiCrN as the transition layer is Ra0.12 µm. The Si-DLC coating with AlTiCrN as the transition layer has the smoothest surface, and the Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN as the transition layer is smoother. Analyzing the surface roughness data of the three different transition layers, it can be found that the surface roughness Sa0.11 µm of the Si-DLC coating with AlTiCrN as the transition layer is lower than that of the Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN as the transition layer and that of the Si-DLC coating with AlCrN as the transition layer, Sa0.15 µm and 0.24 µm. Therefore, comparing the two dimensions of line and surface, it can be seen that the Si-DLC coating with The Si-DLC coating with AlCrN as the transition layer has the largest surface roughness and the worst surface quality. The Si-DLC coatings with AlTiSiN as the transition layer and AlTiCrN, as the transition layers have low surface roughness and good surface quality. In conclusion, from the roughness results, this is consistent with the SEM results.
The bar chart of the hardness and film thickness of Si-DLC with different transition layers are shown in Figure 6. In Figure 6, it can be seen that the hardness values of Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN as transition layer, Si-DLC coating with AlCrN as transition layer and Si-DLC coating with AlTiCrN as transition layer are 26.7, 21.5 and 24.1 GPa, respectively, and the film thicknesses are 0.874, 0.570 and 0.519 µm, respectively. The hardness, film thickness and roughness of the Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN as the transition layer were higher than those of the Si-DLC coating with AlCrN and AlTiCrN as the transition layer. In general, the hardness and thickness of the same coating are positively correlated, and the thicker the thickness, the higher the hardness of the coating, which may be the reason why the hardness of the Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN as the transition layer is higher than the other two coatings [20]. Secondly, AlTiSiN with Si element as the transition layer itself and Si-DLC possess the same element, and the inter-coating compatibility is better [21]. The Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN as the transition layer according to XRD analysis has a SiN phase that can refine the coating grains and improve the overall hardness of the coating. As shown in Figure 7, the micrographs of the film thickness of different transition layers of Si-DLC are shown. The thickness of Si-DLC with AlTiCrN as the transition layer is lower than the other two coatings, which may be related to the fact that AlTiCrN is primed with a Cr target, and the deposition efficiency of the Cr target is lower than that of the AlCr target and TiSi target at the same time. The deposition efficiency of the alloy target is higher than that of the monometallic target [22].
3.6. Binding Force and Wear Analysis
The indentation test method to measure the bond strength of coating and substrate is mainly based on the indentation edge morphology of the HRC method, whose standard number is VDI-3198 1992, proposed by the German Industrial Technology Association. The bonding strength of the film base is from HF1 to HF6 in the order of good to bad, as shown in Figure 8. The micrographs obtained from the indentation test using a Rockwell hardness tester are shown in Figure 9. The comparison of Figure 9a–c shows that the Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN transition layer in Figure 9a shows annular cracks around the indentation, localized extrusion deformation, notches and parallel cracks at the edges. This, on the one hand, reflects the high hardness of the coating, and the brittle hardness leads to the fracture of the coating. On the other hand, it shows that the coating has a large compressive stress in the internal horizontal direction, which leads to the appearance of annular cracks when it is again subjected to a new external force that reaches and exceeds its own critical strain. This indicates that the Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN as the transition layer has the best internal compressive stress of the coating (Figure 9b). The Si-DLC coating with AlCrN as the transition layer does not show coating debris chipping, and only a few cracks appear, which indicates that the internal coating possesses less compressive stress. When subjected to external normal and tangential forces, the coating was not deformed due to its high plasticity, which buffered the external forces. In Figure 9c, the Si-DLC coating with AlTiCrN transition layer undergoes a bulge-like structure and appears as a fragmented structure. This is consistent with the Raman spectroscopy analysis and hardness results, which indicate that the coating has higher sp3 content and high hardness of Si-DLC, and the lateral compressive stress of the coating is higher, which is more likely to produce chips and cracks after being subjected to external forces. Taken together, the Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN transition layer has high compressive stress and good coating bond strength.
The edge morphology of the coating wear resistance test with different transition layers of Si-DLC is shown in Figure 10. The area where no wear occurred is shown in the upper half of the figure, and coating wear occurred in the lower half. From Figure 10, it can be seen that the Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN as the transition layer breaks slightly from 5 to 15 min, and when the wear time reaches 20 min, the coating starts to peel off and exposes the substrate. By 28 min, the coating was severely worn, and the substrate was shaped and flowed. The main reason is that the friction steel ball and the substrate are paired materials with a large phase solubility, and when the coating peels off to expose the substrate, serious adhesive wear occurs with the steel ball. The Si-DLC coating with AlCrN transition layer was observed to have obvious plastic flow after 15 min of wear, indicating that serious adhesive wear had occurred, and the film layer was completely destroyed at that time. The Si-DLC coating with AlTiCrN transition layer was not observed to peel off at 5 min of wear, and the surface was scuffed at 10 and 15 min due to the hardness of the film layer. From the above analysis, it can be seen that the Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN as the transition layer showed scuffing and plastic flow of the substrate only at 28 min, indicating that the Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN as the transition layer has better wear resistance.
The overall wear pits obtained after frictional wear experiments for Si-DLC coatings with different transition layers is shown in Figure 11. From Figure 11, it can be seen that the size of the wear pits of the Si-DLC coating with different transition layers differs, and the Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN as the transition layer produces the largest size of the wear pits. This is due to the difference in wear resistance of different coatings and the different wear test time of the coatings. The Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN as the transition layer has better wear resistance and thus the wear test time is longer, resulting in the largest crater size. Different transition layers of Si-DLC coating can be observed in the figure with different sizes and densities of abrasive grains, resulting in obvious groove-like abrasion marks on the surface of the Si-DLC coating, which indicates that abrasive wear occurred between the friction substrate, and the abrasive grains were generated from the transfer of the friction substrate material during the friction process, i.e., the Si-DLC coating abrasive material was transferred to the stainless steel balls, which intensified the wear degree of the coating. From Figure 11b,c, it can be seen that the coating is locally peeling off from the substrate, indicating that the Si-DLC coating with AlCrN and AlTiCrN transition layer has poor bonding strength to the substrate and poor wear resistance. As observed in Figure 11a, the Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN transition layer shows slight coating breakage at the edge, and the peeling phenomenon between the coating and the substrate is not obvious, indicating that the Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN transition layer has the best peeling resistance and the highest bonding strength with the substrate compared with the other two coatings, and has better wear resistance.
4. Conclusions
In this paper, Si-DLC coatings with different transition layers (AlTiSiN, AlCrN and AlTiCrN) prepared on 304 stainless steel substrates using multi-arc ion plating technology have different morphological and performance performances. Through systematic studies on the organization, mechanical and frictional properties of the Si-DLC coatings with different transition layers, the following conclusions were obtained.
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(1). From SEM observation and roughness test results, the surface of Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN as the transition layer is relatively dense and smooth, with low surface roughness and good surface quality. From the XRD analysis and Raman analysis results, the coating contains Si2N3 hard phase with ID/IG of 0.71, which is more inclined to diamond structure.
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(2). The overall thickness of all three coatings is between 0.5 and 1 µm, and the hardness of Si-DLC with AlTiSiN as the transition layer is the highest, reaching 26.7 Gpa, which is 10.79% and 24.19% higher than that of Si-DLC with AlTiCrN and AlCrN as the transition layer, respectively.
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(3). The Si-DLC coating with AlTiSiN as the transition layer showed scuffing and plastic flow of the substrate only at 28 min and had the best anti-spalling performance relative to the other two coatings, the highest bond strength with the substrate, and better wear resistance.
Conceptualization, Z.G. and R.L.; methodology, Z.G. and R.W.; validation, J.C.; formal analysis, H.Y.; writing—original draft preparation, Z.G.; writing—review and editing, S.W., B.L., R.W. and H.Y.; supervision, R.L.; project administration, R.L.; funding acquisition, S.W. and R.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
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The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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Enlarge this image.Figure 1. SEM of Si-DLC with different transition layers: (a) AlTiSiN/Si-DLC; (b) AlCrN/Si-DLC; (c) AlTiCrN/Si-DLC.
Enlarge this image.Figure 2. EDS of Si-DLC with different transition layers: (a) AlTiSiN/Si-DLC; (b) AlCrN/Si-DLC; (c) AlTiCrN/Si-DLC.
Enlarge this image.Figure 3. XRD diffraction patterns of Si-DLC with different transition layers: (a) AlTiSiN/Si-DLC; (b) AlCrN/Si-DLC; (c) AlTiCrN/Si-DLC.
Enlarge this image.Figure 4. Raman spectra of Si-DLC with different transition layers: (a) AlTiSiN/Si-DLC; (b) AlCrN/Si-DLC; (c) AlTiCrN/Si-DLC.
Enlarge this image.Figure 5. Roughness 3D diagram of Si-DLC with different transition layers: (a) AlTiSiN/Si-DLC; (b) AlCrN/Si-DLC; (c) AlTiCrN/Si-DLC.
Enlarge this image.Figure 6. Hardness and film thickness values of Si-DLC with different transition layers.
Enlarge this image.Figure 7. Microscopic photos of film thickness of Si-DLC with different transition layers: (a) AlTiSiN/Si-DLC; (b) AlCrN/Si-DLC; (c) AlTiCrN/Si-DLC.
Enlarge this image.Figure 9. Surface indentation morphology of Si-DLC with different transition layers: (a) AlTiSiN/Si-DLC; (b) AlCrN/Si-DLC; (c) AlTiCrN/Si-DLC.
Enlarge this image.Figure 10. Wear edge morphology of Si-DLC coatings with different transition layers.
Chemical composition of 304 austenitic stainless steel.
| Elements | C | Si | Mn | Cr | Ni | P | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mass fraction % | 0.036 | 0.452 | 1.024 | 18.14 | 8.03 | 0.023 | 0.001 |
Roughness values of Si-DLC coatings with different transition layers.
| Coating | Ra/μm | Sa/μm |
|---|---|---|
| AlTiSiN/Si-DLC | 0.13 | 0.15 |
| AlCrN/Si-DLC | 0.18 | 0.24 |
| AlTiCrN/Si-DLC | 0.12 | 0.11 |
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