Investigating wear and nanomechanics of thin hard coatings on steel

Hard coatings are often used on the surfaces of steel components to increase their service life. These tribological coatings prevent wear between contacting parts, such as the surfaces of tools or the contacting surfaces of gear teeth. Since the mechanical properties of a coating can be greatly influenced by deposition parameters, coating reliability is often a concern. Significant substrate effect may occur for a hard coating on a soft substrate. In this application note, Bruker Nano utilizes the Hysitron^® TI Series nanomechanical test instruments to precisely monitor the hardness, reduced modulus, and wear depth in thin hard coatings on steel.