Friction and wear performance of diamond-like carbon, boron carbide, and titanium carbide coatings against glass

Protection of glass substrates by direct ion beam deposited diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings was observed using a commercial pin-on-disk instrument at ambient conditions without lubrication. Ion beam sputter-deposited titanium carbide and boron carbide coatings reduced sliding friction, and provided tribological protection of silicon substrates, but the improvement factor was less than that found for DLC. Observations of unlubricated sliding of hemispherical glass pins at ambient conditions on uncoated glass and silicon substrates, and ion beam deposited coatings showed decreased wear in the order: uncoated glass > uncoated silicon > boron carbide > titanium carbide > DLC > uncoated sapphire. Failure mechanisms varied widely and are discussed. Generally, the amount of wear decreased as the sliding friction decreased, with the exception of uncoated sapphire substrates, for which the wear was low despite very high friction. There is clear evidence that DLC coatings continue to protect the underlying substrate long after the damage first penetrates through the coating. The test results correlate with field use data on commercial products which have shown that the DLC coatings provide substantial extension of the useful lifetime of glass and other substrates.