High temperature solid/liquid lubrication behaviours of DLC films

Abstract The high temperature solid/liquid lubrication performances of DLC (diamond like carbon) films were investigated by a ball‐on‐disc tribometer under perfluoropolyether (PFPE) oil. The friction and wear behaviours of DLC films sliding against a Si 3 N 4 ball at different friction pairs, sliding speeds and temperatures were evaluated systematically under dry friction. Moreover, tribological properties of DLC films were investigated under PFPE oils lubrication at elevated temperature. The experimental results show that the solid–liquid synergy lubrication is beneficial to improve the tribological properties of the steel‐related friction system and the tribological properties of the friction pair are significantly influenced by lubrication modes under PFPE oil lubrication, especially at high temperature. Tribotests show that the friction system exhibited low friction behaviours under PFPE oil due to the excellent thermal stability of PFPE oil. Coefficient of friction (CoF) of the friction system is as super low as 0.029 under PFPE oil.