Tribological studies of DLC films contaning different amount of silicon coated by reactive ion plating

Abstract

In order to synthesize DLC film on WC-Co alloy, C6H6 and (CH3)(6)Si2O mixture was used by employing ion-plating apparatus. The Si content in DLC film was varied arranging the mixture ratio of both gases. The film thickness of about 1 mum was obtained. Friction and wear experiments were conducted by using a reciprocating ball-on-plate system under relatively dry atmosphere (RH: 20% +/- 5%). Fairly small friction coefficients (0.06-0.15) and specific wear rates (1-4 x 10(-7)) were observed. When the Si content was increased above 5.9 at. % Si, tribological properties were deteriorated. The film containing about 1.6 at. % Si gave relatively good tribological results.