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This work shows that a soft, thin film comprising randomly aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can reduce surface wear more effectively than a homogeneous thin film because of enhanced elastic recoverability and contact stress relief originating from its mesh structure. To investigate the wear characteristics of the mesh structure compared to those of the homogeneous thin film, multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs) and diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin films were prepared to conduct nanoscale tribological experiments using the atomic force microscopy (AFM). The MWCNT thin film showed unmeasurably low wear compared with the DLC thin film under a certain range of normal load. To demonstrate the wear reduction mechanism of the MWCNT thin film, its indentation and frictional behaviors were assessed. The indentation behavior of the MWCNT thin film revealed repetitive elastic deformation with a wide strain range and a significantly lower elastic modulus than that of the DLC thin film. The permanent deformation of the MWCNT thin film was observed through frictional experiments under relatively high normal load conditions. These results are expected to provide insights into the design of highly wear-resistant surfaces using nanostructures.


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Feasibility of wear reduction for soft nanostructured thin film through enhanced elastic recoverability and contact stress relief

Show Author's information Kuk-Jin SEO1Hyun-Joon KIM2,3( )Dae-Eun KIM1( )
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea
Department of Precision Mechanical Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Sangju 37224, Republic of Korea
Department of Advanced Science and Technology Convergence, Kyungpook National University, Sangju 37224, Republic of Korea

Abstract

This work shows that a soft, thin film comprising randomly aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can reduce surface wear more effectively than a homogeneous thin film because of enhanced elastic recoverability and contact stress relief originating from its mesh structure. To investigate the wear characteristics of the mesh structure compared to those of the homogeneous thin film, multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs) and diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin films were prepared to conduct nanoscale tribological experiments using the atomic force microscopy (AFM). The MWCNT thin film showed unmeasurably low wear compared with the DLC thin film under a certain range of normal load. To demonstrate the wear reduction mechanism of the MWCNT thin film, its indentation and frictional behaviors were assessed. The indentation behavior of the MWCNT thin film revealed repetitive elastic deformation with a wide strain range and a significantly lower elastic modulus than that of the DLC thin film. The permanent deformation of the MWCNT thin film was observed through frictional experiments under relatively high normal load conditions. These results are expected to provide insights into the design of highly wear-resistant surfaces using nanostructures.

Keywords: friction, wear, thin film, elastic recovery, carbon nanotube (CNT)

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Received: 02 March 2022
Revised: 20 May 2022
Accepted: 23 June 2022
Published: 18 November 2022
Issue date: July 2023

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© The author(s) 2022.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIT) (No. 2020R1A2C2004714). This work was also supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (No. 2021R1I1A3060608).

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