Tribological Properties of Ti-DLC Coatings on Piston-pin Surfaces

A magnetically filtered cathode vacuum arc deposition system was used to deposit Ti-doped diamond-like carbon coatings(Ti-DLC)on pin surfaces to improve the wear resistance of high-power density diesel engine piston pins.The coating structure,composition,and morphology were characterised using field emission scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM),X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS),Raman spectroscopy,and other techniques.Friction tests were carried out using a universal tribometer to study the tribological properties of pins with or without coatings under dry friction and oil lubrication.The surface morphology and cross-sectional morphology of the Ti-DLC coating show that the coating has a uniform crosssection and good surface properties.The XPS spectrum shows that the coating contains Ti-C,Ti-C*,sp2-C,sp3-C,and C-O/C=O.Raman spectroscopy shows that there is an amorphous carbon phase in the Ti-DLC coating.The friction test shows that the friction temperature increase of the pin with the Ti-DLC coating is lower than that without the coating,especially under dry-friction conditions.At the end of the test,the difierence in temperature increase is 16.7%.The friction coefficient when using high-viscosity lubricating oil with a coating is relatively lower than that without a coating,especially under low-speed and heavy-duty conditions.In the dryfriction state,the coated surface has better wear resistance than the uncoated surface,which primarily manifests as abrasive wear,and the surface without a coating mainly experiences adhesive wear.

Effects of process parameters and annealing on microstructure and properties of CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy coating prepared by plasma cladding

Plasma cladding was used to prepare a CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy(HEA)coating under different conditions.The process parameters were optimized using an orthogonal experiment design based on surface morphology quality characteristics,dilution rate,and hardness.The optimal process parameters were determined through range and variance analysis to be a cladding current of 70 A,a cladding speed of 7 cm·min^(-1),and a powder gas flow rate of 8 L·s^(-1).During the optimized experiments,both the cladded and annealed CoCrFeMnNi HEA coatings exhibit some pores,micro-voids,and a small amount of aggregation.However,the aggregation in the annealed coating is more dispersed than that in the cladded coating.The cladded CoCrFeMnNi HEA coating consists of simple FCC phases,while a new Cr-rich phase precipitates from the FCC matrix after annealing the coating at a temperature range of 550°C-950°C.After annealing at 850°C,the proportion of the FCC phase decreases compared to the cladded coating,and the number of large-angle grain boundaries is significantly reduced.However,the proportion of grains with sizes below 50μm increases from 61.7%to 74.3%.The micro-hardness and wear resistance of the cladded coating initially increases but then decreases with an increase in annealing temperature,indicating that appropriate annealing can significantly improve the mechanical properties of the CoCrFeMnNi HEA coatings by plasma cladding.The micro-hardness of the CoCrFeMnNi HEA coatings after annealing at 650°C increases to 274.82 HV_(0.2),while the friction coefficient decreases to below 0.595.

Exploring the Friction and Wear Properties of Silver Coatings on 718 Alloy

Fasteners of 718 alloys are used to set up connection between each support and other components for ITER system, metal-based Ag solid lubricant coating is widely used as an anti-seizure lubricant coating due to its strong low-temperature shear resistance. But the poor adhesion to the steel surfaces has been a critical restriction for applying the silver coatings to the practical machine elements. In this work, an 8-μm silver self-lubricating coating was deposited on the surface of 718 alloy by the method of magnetron sputtering. The coating was uniform, dense and consistent. The wear mechanism was investigated by analyzing the friction and wear properties of the coating. Stress is one of the important impacts on the friction coefficient, the results showed that it first increased and then decreased with the increase of pressure at room temperature and under vacuum. Temperature exerted an effect on the silver self-lubricating coating. A study was conducted under vacuum on the friction and wear performance of the coating at 300 K, 225 K, 155 K, and 77 K, respectively. The results showed that the wear mechanism and wear state varied under various low-temperature conditions, with the severity of wear reaching the maximum only at 225 K. Through the same silver coating process, the washer of superbolt was improved by silver coating treatment.

Impact of Different Rates of Nitrogen Supplementation on Soil PhysicochemicalProperties and Microbial Diversity in Goji Berry

Goji berry(Lycium barbarum L.)is substantially dependent on nitrogen fertilizer application,which can signifi-cantly enhance fruit yield and Goji berry industrial development in Ningxia,China.This study aimed to analyze the functions of differential nitrogen application rates including low(N1),medium(N2),and high(N3)levels in soil microbial community structure(bacterial and fungal)at 2 diverse soil depths(0-20,20-40 cm)through high-throughput sequencing technology by targeting 16S RNA gene and ITS1&ITS2 regions.All the observed physicochemical parameters exhibited significant improvement(p<0.05)with increased levels of nitrogen and the highest values for most parameters were observed at N2.However,pH decreased(p<0.05)gradually.The alpha and beta diversity analyses for bacterial and fungal communities’metagenome displayed more similarities than differences among all groups.The top bacterial and fungal phyla and genera suggested no obvious(p>0.05)differences among three group treatments(N1,N2,and N3).Furthermore,the functional enrichment analysis demonstrated significant(p<0.05)enrichment of quorum sensing,cysteine and methionine metabolism,and transcriptional machinery for bacterial communities,while various saprotrophic functional roles for fungal communities.Conclusively,moderately reducing the use of N-supplemented fertilizers is conducive to increasing soil nitrogen utilization rate,which can contribute to sustainable agriculture practices through improved soil quality,and microbial community structure and functions.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Ni-based composite coatings reinforced by in situ synthesized TiB_2 + TiC by laser cladding

A Ni-based composite coating reinforced by in situ synthesized TiB2 and TiC particles was fabricated on Ti6A14V by laser cladding. An attempt was made to correlate the thermodynamic predictions and experimental observation. The micro- structure and the microhardness profile across the coating were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, energy dispersive spectroscopy （EDS）, and a hardness tester. It is found that the coating mainly consists of a large number of reinforcements （black blocky TiB2, flower-like or equiaxial TiC, and fine acicular CrB） and the 7 matrix. The hardness of TiB2, TiC, and CrB reinforcements is much higher than that of the 7 matrix. The dispersive distribu- tion of such high hardness reinforcements causes the increase in hardness of the whole coating. The average value of the hard- ness is approximately Hv0.2 700 in the coating. The hardness of the coating is obviously higher than that of the substrate due to the dispersion strengthening of reinforcements.

Effect of rare earth doping on thermo-physical properties of lanthanum zirconate ceramic for thermal barrier coatings

The effect of rare earth doping on thermo-physical properties of lanthanum zirconate was investigated. Oxide powders of various compositions La2Zr2O7 were synthesized by coprecipitation-calcination method. High-temperature dilatometer, DSC, and laser thermal diffusivity methods were used to analyze thermal expansion coefficient （TEC）, specific heat, and thermal diffusivity. The results showed that CeO2 doped pyrochlores La2（Zr1.8Ce0.2）2O7 and La1.7（DyNd）0.15（Zr0.8Ce0.2）2O7 had higher TEC than La2Zr2O7 and La1.7Dy0.3Zr2O7. La2（Zr1.8Ce0.2）2O7, La1.7Dy0.3Zr2O7, and La1.7（DyNd）0.15（Zr0.8Ce0.2）2O7 had lower thermal conductivity than undoped La2Zr2O7. The Dy2O3, Nd2O3, and CeO2 codoped composition showed the lowest thermal conductivity and the highest TEC. Thermo-physical results also indicated that TEC of rare earth oxide doped La2Zr2O7 ceramic was slightly higher than that of conventional ZrO2-8Wt.% Y2O3 （8YSZ）, and its thermal conductivity was lower than that of 8YSZ.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of twin-wire arc sprayed Ni-Al composite coatings on 6061-T6 aluminum alloy sheet

We have systematically studied the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ni-5wt%Al and Ni-20wt%Al composite coat- ings fabricated on 6061-T6 aluminum alloy sheet by twin-wire arc spraying under different experimental conditions. The abrasive wear be- havior and interface diffusion behavior of the composite coatings were evaluated by dry/wet rubber wheel abrasive wear tests and heat treat- ment, respectively. Experimental results indicate that the composite coatings exhibit features of adhesive wear. Besides, the Vickers micro- hardness of NiA1 and Ni3AI intermetallic compounds is relatively larger than that of the substrate, which is beneficial for enhancing the wear resistance. With the increase of annealing temperature and time, the interface diffusion area between the Ni-Al coating and the substrate gradually expands with the formation of NiAl3 and Ni2Al3 phases, and is controlled by diffusion of aluminum atoms. The grain growth ex- ponent n of diffusion kinetics of the Ni-Al coating, calculated via a high-temperature diffusion model at 400, 480, and 550℃, is between 0.28 and 0.38. This satisfies the cubic law, which is consistent with the general theoretical relationship of high-temperature diffusion.

Crystalline texture evolution, control of the tribocorrosion behavior, and significant enhancement of the abrasion properties of a Ni-P nanocomposite coating enhanced by zirconia nanoparticles

This paper describes an investigation of the effect of ZrO2 nanoparticles on the abrasive properties,crystalline texture developments,and tribocorrosion behavior of Ni-P nanostructured coatings.In the investigation,Ni-P and Ni-P-ZrO2 nanostructured coatings are deposited on St52 steel via the electroless method.Transmission electron microscopy(TEM),field emission scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM),X-ray diffraction(XRD),energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS),cyclic-static polarization tests in 3.5wt%NaCl solution,the tribocorrosion test(by back-and-forth wear in electrochemical cell),and the microhardness test using the Vickers method were performed to characterize and analyze the deposited coatings.The results of this study showed that the addition of ZrO2 nanoparticles to the Ni-P electroless bath produced the following:a sharp increase in wear and hardness resistance,the change of the wear mechanism from sheet to adhesive mode,the reduction of pitting corrosion resistance,significant reduction in the tribocorrosion protective properties,change in the preferred orientation of the crystalline texture coating from(111)to(200),increase in the sedimentation rate during the deposit process,and a sharp increase in the thickness of the Ni-P nanostructured coatings.

Study on microstructure and properties of high velocity arc sprayed Fe_3Al intermetallic coating

Coating structural materials with Fe 3Al based intermetallics may rapidly lead to industrial application of their environment and wear resistant features. In the present study, high velocity arc spraying (HVAS) was used to in situ synthesize Fe 3Al intermetallic coating. The microstructural characterization and properties of the coating have been investigated. The microstructure was found to consist of Fe 3Al based intermetallic (D0 3 and B2) and α Fe regions together with fine oxide (α Al 2O 3) layers. TEM images of coating show that the solidified lamellae are polycrystalline and have a grain size of the order of about 150 nm , and there also exists amorphous state in some areas. It can be concluded that a very high cooling rate has been obtained during HVAS process. Moreover, the coating has relatively higher adhesion strength and microhardness, as well as lower density and porosity.

Effect of Laser Power on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of TiN/Ti_3Al Composite Coatings on Ti6Al4V

Laser nitriding is one of the effective techniques to improve the surface properties of titanium alloys and has potential application in the life extension of last-stage steam turbine blades. However, cracking of surface coating is a common problem due to heat concentration in laser nitriding process. Conventionally, the cracks can be avoided through heat treatment, which may have an important influence on the mechanical properties of coating. Crack-free TiN/Ti3Al IMC coatings on Ti6Al4V are prepared by plasma spraying and laser nitriding. The microstructures, phase constitutes and compositions of the coating are observed and analyzed with scanning electron microscopy(SEM), X-ray diffraction(XRD) and X-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy(EDS). Microhardness, elastic modulus, fracture toughness of the coating are measured. The results show that the crackand pore-free IMC coatings can be made through the proposed method; with increasing laser power, the amount and density of TiN phase in the coating first increased and then decreased, leading to the similar trend of microhardness and elastic modulus and the reverse trend of fracture toughness of the coating. Both the average microhardness and elastic modulus of the coating increase three times higher than those of the substrate. The volume fraction of the TiN reinforced phase in composite can be controlled by varying the laser power and the cracking problem in laser nitriding process is successfully solved.

Thermal sprayed WC-Co coatings and their mechanical properties

HVOF thermal spraying tests were carried out for thermal spraying the coatings with two kinds of cermet powders,which are microstructured Sulzer Metco Diamalloy 2004 WC-12%Co powders and nanostructured WC-12%Co powders.The microstructures of the as-prepared WC-12%Co coatings were then characterized by using XRD analyzer and SEM.The mechanical properties of the two coatings were evaluated by microhardness test,bend test,cup test,tensile test and abrasive wear test.The results showed that the mechanical properties of WC-12%Co coatings sprayed with nanostructured WC-12%Co powder is higher than that of coatings sprayed with microstructured WC-12%Co powders,and the reasons were discussed.

Effects of addition of rare earth on properties and structures of Ni-W-B-SiC composite coatings

The effects of rare earth (RE) on the composition, phase structures, surface morphologies and hardness of electrodeposited RE Ni W B SiC composite coatings were discussed. The results show that W and SiC contents in the coatings increase with the increase of RE in the bath. When RE is added in the coatings, the grains are refined and the trend of formation of amorphous coatings is increased. Moreover, the thermal stability of the RE Ni W B SiC composite coatings is enhanced. The hardness of the coatings is increased with the increase of heat treatment temperature, and it reaches the peak value when heated at 400 ℃. Besides, the hardness of the RE Ni W B SiC coatings is higher than that of the Ni W B SiC coatings.

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of an in situ Synthesized TiB and TiC Reinforced Titanium Matrix Composite Coating

A titanium-based composite coating reinforced by in situ synthesized TiB and TiC particles was fabricated on Ti6A14V by laser cladding. The microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated. The coating was mainly composed of a-Ti cellular dendrites and an eutectic in which a large number of rod/ needle-shaped TiB and a few equiaxial TiC particles were homogeneously embedded. The microstructural evolution could be divided into four stages： precipitation and growth of primary fl-Ti phase, formation of the binary eutectic fl-Ti＋TiB, formation of the ternary eutectic fl-Ti＋TiB＋TiC, and solid transformation from fl-Ti to a-Ti. Microhardness of the coating showed a gradient variation from the surface （about HV0.2 876） to the bottom （about HV0.2 660） and was prominently improved in comparison with that of the substrate. Fracture toughness of the coating also exhibited a gradient variation from the surface （6.3 MPa-m1/2） to the interface （11.9 MPa-mV2）. Wear resistance of the coating was significantly superior to that of Ti6A14V.

Influence of Si Content on Properties of Ti1-xSixN Coatings

To investigate the evolution of microstructure and wear behavior of TiSiN coatings with the variation of Si in targets and lays the foundation for its controllable mass production, Ti1-xSixN composite coatings were deposited onto Si(100) and cemented carbide substrates using TiSi targets with different Si content by cathodic arc ion plating. The influences of Si on the microstructure and mechanical properties were studied. Nano-amorphous composite structure appeared in the Ti1-xSixN coatings when Si content in TiSi target was higher than 5 at%. However, further increase of Si content in TiSi target exhibited a negligible effect on the microstructure of Ti1-xSixN coatings. Hardness and deformation resistance were correlated to the content of Si in TiSi targets. Maximum hardness was obtained as the Si content in target increased up to 20 at%. Friction coefficient and wear rate significantly decreased with addition of Si in TiN coating, and then dually increased with the increase of Si content in targets.

Morphology and tribological properties of Ni/n-SiO_2 composite coatings by pulse-reverse current brush-plating

Ni/n-SiO2 composite coating was electrodeposited by brush-plating with pulse-reverse current（RC）. The morphology, hardness, and tribological properties of the coating were investigated and compared with those of Ni and composite coatings electrodeposited with direct current（DC）. The results indicate that Ni/n-SiO2 composite coating electrodeposited by RC, because of RC and the nano powders, has denser coating, finer crystal grains, higher hardness（HV650.0, nearly 1.5 times higher than that of Ni coating electrodeposited by DC） and lower friction coefficient（nearly 0.62）, as a result, in the wearing experiment, the Ni/n-SiO2 composite coating electrodeposited by RC has the least worn loss. So this kind of coating has better wear resistance. And RC electro brush-plating can be used as a new technology of brush-plating in the area of wear resistance.

Formation of a cerium conversion coating on magnesium alloy using ascorbic acid as additive.Characterisation and anticorrosive properties of the formed films

Cerium-based conversion coatings were formed on AZ91D magnesium alloy by immersion of the substrate in solutions containing Ce(NO_(3))_(3),H_(2)O_(2) and ascorbic acid(HAsc).The characterisation of the films was performed by electrochemical and surface analysis techniques such as SEM,EDS,X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS).The degree of corrosion protection achieved was evaluated in simulated physiological solution by the open circuit potential monitoring,polarisation techniques and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS).The presence of HAsc in the conversion solution causes changes in the morphology,adherence and anticorrosive performance of the films.The improvement in the corrosion resistance is closely associated with the corrosion inhibition properties of HAsc.

Effect of aluminum borate whisker coating on interface and mechanical properties of 6061Al matrix composites

Copper coating was deposited on the surface of aluminum borate whisker by an electroless plating method.This method was used to modify the interfacial property of squeeze-casting aluminum borate whisker reinforced 6061Al matrix composite.Interface observation indicates that the spinel reaction(MgAl2O4) is hindered by the copper coating,and the difference in interfacial reaction degree affects the tensile property and aging behavior of the composite.For the composite with less spinel reaction(MgAl2O4),its peak-aging process are postponed due to less depletion of magnesium.On the fracture surface of copper-coated composite dimples and fractures of whiskers are more,but on the fracture surface of uncoated composite pull-out of whiskers are more than that on the coated one.In uncoated composite the fracture generally originates from the near-interface-region.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of twin-wire arc spraying Ni-Swt.% AI coating on 6061-T6 aluminum alloy

Thermal sprayed Ni-5wt.% Al coating was fabricated on the substrate of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy by twin-wire arc spraying. Experimental results indicated that the average value of bond strength was around 46. 90 MPa, the average hardness was 240 HV and the average value of surface roughness was about O. 14 mm. Friction and wear test results showed that the dry friction coefficient of Ni-5wt.% Al coating firstly decreased, and then tended to a slight increase after 200 cycles. In the early abrasion stage, adhesion wear played the key role for wear mechanics of Ni-5wt.% Al coating, but gradually abrasive wear became to replace adhesion wear.

The Effect of Unbalanced Coefficient of Magnetron on the Structure and Properties of CN_x Coatings

The effect of unbalanced coefficient of magnetron （UCM） on the structure and tribological properties of CrNx hard coatings was studied.The CrNx coatings were deposited on both Si wafer and hardened tool steel substrates using a closed-field unbalanced magnetron sputtering ion plating technique in a gas mixture of Ar＋N2 under different unbalanced magnetron conditions.The coatings were characterized by means of XRD,XPS,SEM,microhardness tester and pin-on-disc tribometer to study respectively their structure,chemical bonding state,microstructure,hardness and tribological properties.The experimental results show that the UCM has a profound effect on the structure,hardness and tribological properties of the CrNx coatings.With increasing the values of UCM,the dominant phases in the deposited coatings evolved from Cr＋Cr2N to Cr2N＋CrN,the microstructure became denser and the hardness increased;in addition,reduced coefficient of friction and improved wear resistance of CrNx coatings were also observed under a larger UCM.

Rare earth effect on the microstructure and tribological properties of FeNiCr coatings

FeNiCr alloys with various amounts of La2O3 powders were thermally sprayed onto steel substrate.Electron probe microscopy analysis （EPMA）,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）,and an Optimol SRV oscillating friction and wear tester in a ball-on-disc contact configuration were employed to investigate the properties of the sprayed coatings.The results show that rare earth can refine the microstructure effectively and make the element distribution uniform,which leads to the improvement in the properties of the coatings.Meanwhile,the wear rate of the FeNiCr alloy with 1.5% La2O3 is smaller than those of the other coatings.Interestingly,the rare earth can reduce the friction coefficient and act as a self-lubricant in the oxide debris layer formed on the worn surface in friction.The wear mechanism of the coatings is oxidation wear,and a large amount of counterpart material is transferred to the coatings.