Durability evaluation of carbon steel AISI1045 coated diamond-like carbon film using an atmospheric controlled IH-FPP system for pretreatment

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films are well known for their excellent tribological properties; however, poor adhesion limits the practical applications of DLC films. In order to clarify the effect of atmospheric controlled IH-FPP (AIH-FPP) treatment for pretreatment on durability and adhesion of carbon steel AISI1045 coated DLC films, wear tests were carried out with a focus on the coating damage and delamination behavior. A Cr particle which indicates high chemical affinity to carbon which constitutes the DLC films was selected as shot material for the AIH-FPP treatment, and AIH-FPP was performed with two types of treatment conditions; the one generates the Cr transferred layer and the other generates the Cr diffused layer on the substrate surface. After AIH-FPP treatment, DLC films were coated on them by using an unbalanced magnetron sputtering (UBMS) method to a thickness of 2 μ. The specimens which have a Cr diffused layer at substrate surface and DLC films on it indicated low friction coefficient and maintained the excellent wear properties in the long-term region compared with practical DLC coated specimens. Consequently, it can be concluded that AIH-FPP with Cr particle is appropriate pretreatment before the coating process to achieve high durability and adhesion.