Ion Beam Deposited Metal Oxide and Fluoride Composite Coatings for High Temperature Tribological Applications

Wide temperature, solid lubricant films offer payoffs for military turbomachinery components: rub seals, face seals, fretting interfaces and bearings. Multilayer films of B4C/Mo, B4C/Cr, Zn/W, Ni/Ti, Au/Cr, W/MoS and AlCuFeCr films were deposited by planar magnetron sputtering or ion bombardment assisted deposition (IBAD), and evaluated for adhesion, friction and wear properties from room temperature to as high as 1100 deg F. Oxidized Zn/W and W/MoS2 films exhibited low friction coefficients at room temperature. However, only AlFeCuCr quasicrystalline films consistently produced low friction coefficients at high temperature, suggesting that these films warrant further investigation. High friction coefficients obtained with IBAD Ni-Ti films at 1100 deg F were especially puzzling given previous Southwest Research Institute results that showed low friction values at high temperature.