ribological and mechanical properties of nanostructured self-lubricant W - Se - C coatings produced by laser deposition
The method of pulsed laser deposition was used to produce thin film coatings from tungsten diselenide and carbon. Pulsed laser deposition enables formation of nanocomposite structure, containing nanocrystals of WSe2, amorphous carbon and ball-shaped β-W nanoparticles with nanoshell of WSe2. Friction, wear and mechanical properties of the coatings depend on concentration of carbon atoms. Carbon concentration increase resulted in an improvement of wear resistance and mechanical properties but noticeably deteriorated antifriction properties. The dynamics of wear was investigated and it was recognized that nanostructure-based features of the coatings became apparent during friction on hard underlayer of diamondlike carbon. Thin composite W - Se - C layer ensured prolonged friction with low coefficient of friction and with very low wear. This tribological behavior may be attributed to rotation of encapsulated nanoballs located in the contact area of the friction pair.