Abstract Scope |
Coating and surface treatments against wear, galling, and corrosion are critical to prolonging the life of the oil field parts. The conventional coatings (plating and carbide) and surface treatment (nitriding, carburizing and boronizing) processes are lacking the combination of properties such as low friction, wear, and anti-galling. The diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings can provide low friction and high hardness for wear resistance applications. In this investigation, different DLCs, varying in thickness, composition, and hardness, have been applied on stainless (13 Cr) steel and Ni-alloys (718 and 925). They have been tested under high contact stresses and multi-make/break torque conditions with the goal to simulate the oil field stress and galling conditions. This study also discusses tribological properties (wear rate and friction) in dry conditions, galling threshold, and failure mechanism of a different flavor of DLCs in correlation with the mechanical properties. |