Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Fracture toughness of duplex CrN/DLC and nano-multilayer DLC-W deposited on valve tappet via hybrid PVD and PECVD

  • Published:
Sādhanā Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

DLC coatings are well known for their high fracture toughness, however, often exhibit poor adhesion properties on metallic substrates. The use of interlayers and metallic doping can be used to overcome such challenge. In this study duplex CrN/DLC and nano-multilayer DLC-W coatings were both deposited on hydraulic valve tappet using a hybrid PVD/PECVD deposition system. Microhardness measurements were taken for the uncoated valve tappet, duplex CrN/DLC and nano-multilayer DLC-W coated valve tappet at loads of 0.98 N, 1.96 N, 2.94 N, 4.9 N, 9.8 N and 19.6 N for 15 seconds using a Shimadzu hardness tester. The fracture toughness was evaluated using the Vickers indentation method from microhardness indents on the surface of the coatings. The fracture toughness for duplex CrN/DLC and nano-multilayer DLC-W coatings indented at 4.9 N, 9.8 N and 19.6 N, reveals that the fracture toughness for the duplex CrN/DLC were 20.24 ± 0.97 MPa.m1/2, 17.18 ± 0.86 MPa.m1/2 and 6.6 ± 0.28 MPa.m1/2 respectively. While the fracture toughness for nano-multilayer DLC-W was calculated as 3.75 ± 0.41 MPa.m1/2 and 4.67 ± 0.38 MPa.m1/2 at 9.8 N and 19.6 N respectively.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9
Figure 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Dearnley P A, Neville A, Turner S, Scheibe H J, Tietema R, Tap R, Stuber M, Hovsepian P, Layyous A and Stenbom B 2010 Coatings tribology drivers for high density plasma technologies. Surf. Eng. 26(1–2): 80–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Robertson J 2002 Diamond-like amorphous carbon. Mater. Sci. Eng. 37: 129–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Grill A 1993 Review of the tribology of diamond-like carbon. Wear 168(1993): 143–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Britun N, Konstantinidis S and Snyders R 2016 Diagnostics of magnetron sputtering discharges by resonant absorption spectroscopy. In: Plasma science and technology - progress in physical states and chemical reactions (ed) Mieno T, IntechOpen, United Kingdom, pp 323–356

    Google Scholar 

  5. Sniderman D 2016 Coatings and engineering are shaping tomorrow’ s world, Tribol. Lubric. Techn. 52-63

  6. Mutafov P, Lanigan J, Neville A, Cavaleiro A and Polcar T 2014 DLC-W coatings tested in combustion engine—frictional and wear analysis. Surf. Coat. Techn. 260: 284–289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Erdemir A and Holmberg K 2015 Energy consumption due to friction in motored vehicles and low-friction coatings to reduce it. In: Coating technology for vehicle applications (eds) Cha S C and Erdemir A, Springer International Publishing AG, Cham, Switzerland, pp 10–15

    Google Scholar 

  8. Kolawole F O, Varela L B, Kolawole S K, Ramirez M A and Tschiptschin A P 2021 Deposition and characterization of tungsten oxide (WO3) nanoparticles incorporated diamond-like carbon coatings using pulsed-DC PECVD. Mater. Lett. 282: 1–4

    Google Scholar 

  9. Kolawole F O, Ramirez M A, Kolawole S K, Varela L B and Tschiptschin A P 2020 Deposition and characterization of molybdenum oxide (MoO3) nanoparticles incorporated diamond-like carbon coatings using pulsed-DC PECVD. Mater. Lett. 278: 1–4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Kolawole F O, Kolade O S, Bello S A, Kolawole S K, Ayeni A T and Elijah T F, Borisade S G and Tschiptschin A P 2023 The improvement of diamond-like carbon coatings for tribological and tribo-corrosion applications in automobile engines: an updated review study. Intern. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 126: 2295–2322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Kolawole F O 2023 Mechanical and temperature-dependent tribological behavior of CrN/DLC and multilayer DLC-W coatings for automobile engine applications, PhD Dissertation, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

  12. Chen X, Du Y and Chung Y W 2019 Commentary on using H/E and H3/E2 as proxies for fracture toughness of hard coatings. Thin Solid Film. 688: 1–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Nemati N, Bozorg M, Penkov O V, Shin D, Sadighzadeh A and Kim D E 2017 Functional multi-nanolayer coatings of amorphous carbon/tungsten carbide with exceptional mechanical durability and corrosion resistance. ACS Appl. Mater. Interface 9: 30149–30160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Anstis G R, Chantikul P, Lawn B R and Marshall D B 1981 A critical evaluation of indentation techniques for measuring fracture toughness: I, direct crack measurements. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 64: 533–538

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Zhang S, Sun D, Fu Y and Du H 2005 Toughness measurement of thin films: a critical review. Surf. Coat. Technol. 198: 74–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Yamada Y, Murashima M, Umehara N, Tokoroyama T, Lee W-Y and Takamatsu H, Tanaka Y and Utsumi Y 2022 Effect of fracture properties and surface morphology on wear of DLC coatings at severe contact condition. Tribol. Int. 169: 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Jeng Y R, Islam S, Wu K T, Erdemir A and Eryilmaz O 2017 Investigation of nano-mechanical and- tribological properties of hydrogenated diamond like carbon (DLC) coatings. J. Mech. 33: 769–776

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Schiffmann K I 2011 Determination of fracture toughness of bulk materials and thin films by nanoindentation: comparison of different models. Philos. Mag. 91: 1163–1178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Zia A W, Zhou Z, Shum P W and Li L K Y 2017 The effect of two-step heat treatment on hardness, fracture toughness, and wear of different biased diamond-like carbon coatings. Surf. Coat. Technol. 320: 118–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Kolawole F O, Santos M D, Kolawole S K, Vencovsky P K, Ludewigs D A and Tschiptschin A P 2023 Nano-scratch and micro-scratch properties of duplex layer CrN/DLC and nano-multilayer DLC-W coatings. Mater. Perform. Character. 12(3): 1–21

    Google Scholar 

  21. Tschiptschin A P 2013 Duplex coatings. In: Encyclopedia of tribology (eds) Wang Q J and Chung Y W, Springer, New York, pp 794–800

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  22. Nastasi M, Kodali P, Walter K C, Embury J D, Raj R and Nakamura Y 1999 Fracture toughness of diamondlike carbon coatings. J. Mater. Res. 14: 2173–2180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Hedenqvist P and Hogmark S 1997 Experiences from scratch testing of tribological PVD coatings. Tribol. Int. 30: 507–516

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to HEF Durferrit, Brazil for the deposition of the coatings. This work was supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), grant # 2023/08065-6, 2022/05578-0, Petroleum Technology Development Funds (PTDF), Nigeria and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) – Brazil process 141991/2019-4 for financial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Mello Moraes 2463, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Funsho Olaitan Kolawole

  2. National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, Abuja, Nigeria

    Shola Kolade Kolawole

  3. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Kwara State University, Malete, Nigeria

    Sefiu Adekunle Bello

  4. Multifunctional Materials and Sensors group, Department of Science and Technology, Federal University Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

    Shedrach Yakubu

  5. Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria

    Oluwole Daniel Adigun, Adebayo Felix Owa, Reginald Umunakwe, Abdullahi Olawale Adebayo & Chioma Ifeyinwa Madueke

Authors
  1. Funsho Olaitan Kolawole
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shola Kolade Kolawole
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sefiu Adekunle Bello
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Shedrach Yakubu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Oluwole Daniel Adigun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Adebayo Felix Owa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Reginald Umunakwe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Abdullahi Olawale Adebayo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Chioma Ifeyinwa Madueke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Funsho Olaitan Kolawole.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kolawole, F.O., Kolawole, S.K., Bello, S.A. et al. Fracture toughness of duplex CrN/DLC and nano-multilayer DLC-W deposited on valve tappet via hybrid PVD and PECVD. Sādhanā 49, 127 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12046-024-02490-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12046-024-02490-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation