Abrasiveness Variation in a Thin Boron Carbide Coating

Boron carbide (B4C) is well known for its high hardness and wear resistance. It has been found to polish its mating surface, thereby providing fatigue resistance to the coated part. Employing such run-in coatings demands a thorough understanding of the abrasiveness changes that the coatings undergo during the polishing process. Both the coating asperity height and angle of attack were investigated as a function of sliding distance and were correlated with changes in the coating abrasiveness. Furthermore, a semi-empirical equation relating the coating abrasiveness, the asperity height and the asperity angle of attack was presented.