High cycle fatigue and wear behavior of ta-C and a-C:H coated PEEK polymer spur gears under dry contact conditions

Mojškerc, Bor (avtor), Stiller, Tanja (avtor), Durjava, Aleš (avtor), Vukašinović, Nikola (avtor)

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings are under investigation as a potential solution for extending the service life of polymer gears. This study examines the fatigue and wear behavior of polyetheretherketone (PEEK) polymer gears coated with tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) and hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) at thicknesses of 2 μm and 5 μm. The gears were subjected to reference gear pair testing at 1.8 Nm torque under dry contact conditions in a climate-controlled environment. The PEEK substrate and the DLC coated gear failure mechanisms include both tooth flank and root fatigue fractures, with minor tooth surface wear observed. Although DLC coatings wore off relatively early when meshing with steel gears, the service life of the ta-C (5 μm) and a-C:H (5 μm) coated gears was approximately twice that of the PEEK substrate gears and ta-C (2 μm) coated gears. In addition, the a-C:H coatings caused minimal wear on the steel counterparts due to their higher sp2 hybridized graphite structure, whereas the ta-C coatings caused major wear due to their predominantly sp3 hybridized diamond structure. Overall, the results demonstrate that ta-C (5 μm) and a-C:H (5 μm) coatings significantly improve the durability and performance of PEEK polymer gears, highlighting their potential for demanding applications.

• Jezik: Angleški jezik
• Ključne besede: gears, PEEK, coatings, diamond-like carbon, fatigue, wear
• Vrsta gradiva: Članek v reviji
• Tipologija: 1.01 - Izvirni znanstveni članek
• Organizacija: FS - Fakulteta za strojništvo
• Status publikacije: Objavljeno
• Različica publikacije: Objavljena publikacija
• Leto izida: 2025
• Št. strani: 13 str.
• Številčenje: Vol. 152, art. 109009
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-175129
• UDK: 621.833:620.178
• ISSN pri članku: 0142-9418
• DOI: 10.1016/j.polymertesting.2025.109009
• COBISS.SI-ID: 253591811
• Datum objave v RUL: 17.10.2025

Gradivo je del revije

• Naslov: Polymer testing
• Skrajšan naslov: Polym. test.
• Založnik: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0142-9418
• COBISS.SI-ID: 26155008

Licence

• Licenca: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Priznanje avtorstva-Nekomercialno-Brez predelav 4.0 Mednarodna
• Povezava: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.sl
• Opis: Najbolj omejujoča licenca Creative Commons. Uporabniki lahko prenesejo in delijo delo v nekomercialne namene in ga ne smejo uporabiti za nobene druge namene.

Sekundarni jezik

• Jezik: Slovenski jezik
• Ključne besede: polimerni zobniki, PEEK, prevleke, DLC, utrujanje, obraba

Projekti

• Financer: ARIS - Javna agencija za znanstvenoraziskovalno in inovacijsko dejavnost Republike Slovenije
• Številka projekta: P2-0425
• Naslov: Decentralizirane rešitve za digitalizacijo industrije ter pametnih mest in skupnosti

• Financer: Drugi - Drug financer ali več financerjev
• Program financ.: Austrian Competence Center Program
• Številka projekta: COMET PCCL-K1, project VII-3.11
• Naslov: Tribological characterization of bulk and surface modified gear wheel contacts