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Improving Tribological Performance of Piston Ring Steel Substrates by DLC/Nano-crystalline Diamond Coating

  • Research Article-Mechanical Engineering
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Abstract

The goal of this study is to reveal the effects of N2 incorporation in DLC coatings in terms of carbon bond formation and to understand the tribological behavior of this coating by conducting thorough investigations on the coated substrates. This study reports the effects of diamond-like carbon (DLC) and nano-crystalline diamond (NCD) film on improving tribological behavior under harsh friction conditions. The film was deposited on AISI 1018 low-carbon steel alloy substrates cut from a piston ring of an internal combustion engine via electron cyclotron resonance plasma chemical vapor deposition (ECR-CVD) technique at bias voltage of − 600 V using methane (CH4) as carbon source and nitrogen (N2) to crystallize the carbon bonds in DLC/NCD form by varying the flow rates (CH4/N2 plasma). The coated substrates were analyzed in terms of friction and wear (reciprocating friction-wear test module), surface morphology (SEM, AFM), chemical composition (EDX, XRD), hardness, surface roughness, and bond structure (Raman). The film deposited at 8 sccm of N2 and 6.05 sccm of CH4 depicted the maximum hardness (47 HRC) and minimum wear rate (6.35*10–9 mm3/Nm) during the abrasion tests. It was evident that DLC/NCD film was deposited on the substrate according to related analyses and the DLC/NCD coating on the piston ring material provides considerable improvements on tribological performance leading to reduced fuel consumption, cleaner and more efficient fired engines.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Cukurova University, Department of Physics, Plasma Laboratory staff for their help in conducting this study.

Funding

This work was financially supported by Cukurova University, Scientific Research Projects under Grant numbers: FBA-2019–11504 and FBA-2018–10899.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Adana Vocational School of Higher Education, Department of Motor Vehicles and Transportation Technologies, Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey

    Ali Can Yilmaz

  2. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Physics, Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey

    Mehmet Esen

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  1. Ali Can Yilmaz
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  2. Mehmet Esen
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Correspondence to Ali Can Yilmaz.

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Yilmaz, A.C., Esen, M. Improving Tribological Performance of Piston Ring Steel Substrates by DLC/Nano-crystalline Diamond Coating. Arab J Sci Eng 47, 15441–15453 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-022-06660-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-022-06660-5

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