Characterization of the tribologically relevant cover layers formed on copper in oxygen and oxygen-free conditions

Selina RAUMEL; Khemais BARIENTI; Hoang-Thien LUU; Nina MERKERT; Folke DENCKER; Florian NÜRNBERGER; Hans Jürgen MAIER; Marc Christopher WURZ

doi:10.1007/s40544-022-0695-5

Friction 2023, 11(8): 1505-1521 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-022-0695-5

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Open Access | Issue | Published: 03 February 2023

Characterization of the tribologically relevant cover layers formed on copper in oxygen and oxygen-free conditions

Show Author's Information Hide Author's Information Selina RAUMEL^¹(

), Khemais BARIENTI^², Hoang-Thien LUU^³, Nina MERKERT^³, Folke DENCKER^¹, Florian NÜRNBERGER^², Hans Jürgen MAIER^², Marc Christopher WURZ^¹

1 Institute of Micro Production Technology, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Garbsen 30823, Germany

2 Institut für Werkstoffkunde (Materials Science), Leibniz Universität Hannover, Garbsen 30823, Germany

3 Institute of Applied Mechanics, Clausthal University of Technology, Clausthal-Zellerfeld 38678, Germany

Keywords:

oxidation behavior, surface analysis, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, tribochemical reaction, wear behavior

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RAUMEL S, BARIENTI K, LUU H-T, et al. Characterization of the tribologically relevant cover layers formed on copper in oxygen and oxygen-free conditions. Friction, 2023, 11(8): 1505-1521. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-022-0695-5

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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Abstract

Engineering in vacuum or under a protective atmosphere permits the production of materials, wherever the absence of oxygen is an essential demand for a successful processing. However, very few studies have provided quantitative evidence of the effect of oxidized surfaces to tribological properties. In the current study on 99.99% pure copper, it is revealed that tribo-oxidation and the resulting increased abrasive wear can be suppressed by processing in an extreme high vacuum (XHV) adequate environment. The XHV adequate atmosphere was realized by using a silane-doped shielding gas (1.5 vol% SiH₄ in argon). To analyse the influence of the ambient atmosphere on the tribological and mechanical properties, a ball–disk tribometer and a nanoindenter were used in air, argon, and silane-doped argon atmosphere for temperatures up to 800 °C. Resistance measurements of the resulting coatings were carried out. To characterize the microstructures and the chemical compositions of the samples, the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used. The investigations have revealed a formation of η-Cu₃Si in silane-doped atmosphere at 300 °C, as well as various intermediate stages of copper silicides. At temperatures above 300 °C, the formation of γ-Cu₅Si were detected. The formation was linked to an increase in hardness from 1.95 to 5.44 GPa, while the Young’s modulus increased by 46% to 178 GPa, with the significant reduction of the wear volume by a factor of 4.5 and the suppression of further oxidation and susceptibility of chemical wear. In addition, the relevant diffusion processes were identified using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations.

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Characterization of the tribologically relevant cover layers formed on copper in oxygen and oxygen-free conditions

Show Author's information Hide Author's Information Selina RAUMEL^¹(

), Khemais BARIENTI^², Hoang-Thien LUU^³, Nina MERKERT^³, Folke DENCKER^¹, Florian NÜRNBERGER^², Hans Jürgen MAIER^², Marc Christopher WURZ^¹

1 Institute of Micro Production Technology, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Garbsen 30823, Germany

2 Institut für Werkstoffkunde (Materials Science), Leibniz Universität Hannover, Garbsen 30823, Germany

3 Institute of Applied Mechanics, Clausthal University of Technology, Clausthal-Zellerfeld 38678, Germany

Abstract

Keywords: oxidation behavior, surface analysis, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, tribochemical reaction, wear behavior

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Publication history

Received: 08 April 2022

Revised: 21 July 2022

Accepted: 14 September 2022

Published: 03 February 2023

Issue date: August 2023

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Acknowledgements

The project was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) (No. 394563137—SFB 1368). Hoang-Thien LUU and Nina MERKERT gratefully acknowledge for the support from the Simulation Science Center Clausthal/Göttingen. The computations were performed with resources provided by the North-German Supercomputing Alliance (HLRN).

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