Document Type

Journal Article

Publisher

Elsevier

Faculty

Faculty of Computing, Health and Science

School

School of Engineering

RAS ID

10458

Comments

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of: Singh, R.K., Zhou, Z., Li, L.K.Y., Munroe, P., Hoffman, M., & Xie, Z. (2010). Design of functionally graded carbon coatings against contact damage. Thin Solid Films, 518(20), 5769 - 5776. NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Thin Solid Films. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Thin Solid Films 518, 20, (2010). Available here.

Abstract

Three different functionally graded amorphous carbon (a-C) thin films were deposited on to aluminium substrates using a closed-field unbalanced magnetron sputtering ion plating method. The closed-field configuration prohibits the loss of secondary electrons and consequently enhances the plasma density significantly. The functional gradient of the a-C films was achieved by varying the bias voltage linearly during deposition. Three graded a-C systems possessing different variations in Young's modulus were deposited with the highest Young's modulus at the (i) top surface, (ii) interface or (iii) middle of the film. Of the three systems investigated, the one with the highest Young's modulus at the middle of the film thickness was found to exhibit significantly lower levels of cracking at higher indentation depths. Finite element models that included an embedded ring crack controlled by cohesive zone elements were developed to clarify the effect of ring cracks on the deformation of the films. This study provides guidance for the design of functionally graded coatings against contact damage.

DOI

10.1016/j.tsf.2010.05.109

Access Rights

free_to_read

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Engineering Commons

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1016/j.tsf.2010.05.109