WEAR

ELSEVIER

Wear 190 (1995) 155-161

Advances in tribology: the materials point of view

H. Czichos, D. Klaffke, E. Santner, M. Woydt
Federal

Institute for Materials Research

and Testing (BAM), Berlin, Germany

Received 9 January 1995; accepted 25 April 1995

Abstract
The application of advanced materials in various areas of contemporary technology can lead to improvements in the function, quality and
performance of engineering components and systems. In this paper, an overview of the developments in high performance materials, both
organic and inorganic based, is given. This includes thin hard coatings because of their increasing importance in tribological improvements.
For these types of materials the requirements for tribo-engineering applications are analysed. Research results from BAM concerning ceramics
and ceramic composites, polymers and polymer composites as well as hard coatings illustrate the friction and wear behaviour of these materials
and their potential for tribo-engineering
applications.
Keywords;

Tribology; Advanced Materials; Ceramics; Polymers; Coatings

1. Introduction
The key role of materials

in future

technological

develop-

has been recognized in all industrialized countries in

recent years. The driving forces behind the development of
advanced materials are various technological, social, and
environmental requirements [ 11, for example:
improved performance, integrity and reliability of engineering systems;
higher durability of products;
higher efficiency, lower-energy consuming engines;
lightweight, high-strength structures;
miniaturization
of components;
increased productivity.
Further improvement
in conventional
materials and the
development of new materials may also lead to improvements in triboengineering
applications. However, it must be
kept in mind, that in triboengineering
applications materialsrelated influences must be seen in a broader context because
these materials are components of tribological
systems
[ 21. These, in general, comprise four structural parts, i.e. an
interacting materials pair, a lubricant and the environmental
atmosphere. Depending on the type of tribological system
(e.g. bearing, brake, wheel/rail, cam/tappet, piston/cylinder, workpieceltool,
etc.) and the operating conditions (load
FN, speed U, temperature T, operating duration l, sliding distance s) various friction and wear processes may occur. It is
known that the influence of materials on the behaviour of
tribological systems is most pronounced in unlubricated, i.e.
ments

0043-1648/95/$09.50 0 1995 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved

SSDIOO43-1648(95)06678-O

dry operating conditions (solid friction and wear), therefore this paper is restricted to these conditions.
It is now generally recognized that materials suitable for
unlubricated tribological applications should fulfil the following criteria:
wear volume
wear coefficient =
load X sliding distance

k=2<

10e6 mm3 N-

me

friction coefficient = frlzz:l

EJ

f=2<0.2
rN

wear coefficient and friction coefficient should not depend

on the operating conditions (especially velocity and temperature) .

Overview on advanced materials

Although the term advanced materials cannot be defined
precisely, a broad interpretation, may include the following
substances:
materials with a new composition or microstructure:
?? inhomogeneous
?? amorphous
0 nanocrystalline
materials providing novel applications through improved
development and processing:

156

H. Czichos et al. /Wear

Table 1
Properties of metallic, polymeric

and ceramic materials

Material

6 (kg dm-)

Steel
Cast iron
Aluminium

I.&l.9
7.lL7.4
2.662.9

alloy

Aluminium oxide
Zirconium oxide
Silicon nitride
Silicon carbide

3.9
5.6
3.2
3.2

Polyamide (PA)
Polyimide (PI)
Polytetrafluoroethylene
Polyethylene (PE-HD)

1.01-1.14
1.3
2.1-2.3
0.92

(PTFE)

R, (N mm-*)

E ( GPa)
210
64-181
60.80

440-930
140490
300-700

40-80
100-300
15-25
14-18

2-I
3-5
0.4
0.2

?? design

0 production (incl. assembly and joining)

3. materials with improved properties:
0 structural properties
mechanical
thermal
?? functional
properties
electrical
magnetic
optical
biological
0 performance properties
complex behaviour (incl. tribology, corrosion)
environment compatibility (incl. recycling, disposition)
quality, safety, reliability
Within this broad scope, with respect to mechanical engineering and tribo-engineering
applications, materials with
improved structural and performance behaviour are of special
interest [ 31.

on advanced materials for

Materials for tribological applications originate from all

basic classes of substances including metals, ceramics and
polymers and their composites [ 41. Materials from the various classes may differ considerably in their engineering prop-

characteristics

in relation to material types

Mass forces
Hertzian pressures
Friction-induced
temperature increase
Adhesion energy (surface tension)
Abrasion
Tribochemical reactivity

50-214
6-20
2345

l-2

HV

A (W m- K-)
100-900
100-850
25-140

1400-1900
1200
1600-1800
2500
80-100
12
13

30-60
30-60
121-237
25-35
2
25-50
90-125
0.25-0.35
0.37-0.52
0.25
0.33-0.57

HV Vickers hardness; A thermal conductivity

?? synthesis

Table 2
Tribological

K, (MN m--32)

3-5
8-10
4-7
4.5

210-380
140-210
170
450

S density; E elastic modulus; R, tensile strength; K, fracture toughness;

3. General requirements
tribological applications

190 (1995) 155-161

F ,m~ymer
< Fm.m,,s < Fmma~
Ppolymer<Pmetal<Pcmmics
Tmetal< T,+,,, < T,,,,,,,,
Adwrymer < Ad,,,,, < Ad,,,,,,,,
Ab ceram,cS
< Ab,,,,, < Abporymer
R pdymur R c.x2JnlCS
< Rm,,,,

erties as can be seen from Table 1 [ 51. Metallic materials

are characterized by high values of tensile strength, fracture
toughness and thermal conductivity. Outstanding properties
of ceramics are high elastic moduli and hardness which
decrease only slightly with increasing temperature; while
their detrimental property is the low fracture toughness. A
positive aspect for polymers is the low density, but a negative
factor is the low thermal durability.
Friction and wear are not directly correlated with the properties of the bulk material because of the systems dependence
on the tribological behaviour. However, materials-related
aspects may influence the tribological behaviour considerably, see Table 2.
Ceramic materials are beneficial when compared with metals (like steels) in respect to their lower mass forces, better
abrasion resistance and their tribochemical behaviour. Less
positive aspects of ceramics include higher modulus-dependent contact pressures, the shift of the Hertzian shear stress
maximum from the bulk to the surface and the high frictioninduced temperature increase because of the relatively low
thermal conductivity of oxidic ceramics. The low fracture
toughness may also lead to the spontaneous formation of wear
particles under impulse loading.
Polymeric materials are beneficial when compared with
metals in respect to their low interfacial adhesion energy, for
example PTFE, PE, leading to low friction values. However
lower Hertzian contact pressures may not be beneficial for
these materials as they are a consequence of viscoelastic and
plastic deformations which start already at low loads.
Thin coatings have the advantage to of customising tribological material properties yet they leave the bulk properties
of triboelements unchanged which have been optimized by
technical practice.
After this general comparison of materials properties relevant to tribology, selected research results from BAM in the
main classes of advanced materials-ceramics,
polymers and
their composites as well as coatings-are
presented in this
paper.

H. Czichos et al. / Wear 190 (1995) 155-161

4. Tribology of advanced materials-research

from BAM

results

T = 22C

157

: rel.

humidity

Sliding

velocity

30-40

4.1. Ceramics and ceramic composites

It is well known that the final application oriented characterization of the tribological behaviour of materials can
only be made in field tests. However, an overview on the
ranking of different materials types and the orders of magnitude of friction and wear data can be determined utilizing
model tests. The tribological behaviour of oxide ceramics
(aluminium oxide, zirconium oxide) and non-oxide ceramics
(silicon carbide, silicon nitride) was investigated systematically under conditions of dry sliding at temperatures between
22 C and 1000 C with laboratory test configurations [ 61.
The compilation in Fig. 1 shows that in most cases the
friction coefficient is higher thanf=0.5
in this broad temperature range. At room temperature and low sliding velocity
friction values of about f = 0.2 tof= 0.1 can be obtained for
A1,03/A1,0,
and ZrOJZrO,
sliding pairs. This is possibly
due to adsorbed water molecules. For special newly developed ceramic composites, i.e. Sic-Tic and S&N,-BN sliding
pairs, much lower friction values can be observed in Fig. 2
when compared with the former named ceramics as well as
with monolithic non-oxide alumina or zirconia ceramics, see
Fig. 2 [ 71. It should be possible to achieve a value off= 0.1
for dry ceramic sliding pairs through further material developments.
In addition to the friction data, wear values for sliding pairs
of ceramic materials are compiled in Fig. 3. It can be seen
that the wear data of all sliding pairs are higher than
k = lop6 mm3 N- m- which is considered a limit for practical applications as discussed above. On the other hand it
should be mentioned that for Al,03/A1203 and ZQ/ZrO,
sliding pairs under conditions of room temperature and low
sliding velocities (u = 0.03 m s- i) very low wear coefficient
in the range of k= lOPa mm3 N- m- can be obtained,
which may be suitable for some tribological applications.
This beneficial behaviour is obviously due to adsorbed water
molecules.
#3Z

i..P
I
t.QILlN
.I

c
;
g

Self
FM-j0

mated
N

sliding

couples

: =3

m/s

laboratory

.B
.6

6 t
e
E
.4
2
c
.2
0
Ambient

Fig.

temperatur

[Cl

1.Sliding friction data of ceramic materials

air

V h/S)

Fig. 2. Sliding friction data of new ceramic composites,

Tic.

Self meted
F,,=10
N

sliding

: v-

22

400
Ambient

BOO
temperetur

3 m/s

S&N,-BN and SiC-

couples
laboratory

air

1000
T

/?j

Fig. 3. Sliding wear data of ceramic materials.

Similarly as in the case of friction, wear may be considerably reduced for composites which contain titanium in a
ceramic matrix [ 81. For example, the wear coefficient of
Sic-Tic/Sic-Tic
sliding pairs (with 50 wt.% TIC) can be
reduced by a factor of 5 at room temperature and by a factor
of 10 at 400 C when compared with plain SiC/SiC pairs.
Through the addition of TiN to Si,N, the wear coefficient
could be reduced by two orders of magnitude at 800 C when
compared with the wear behaviour of monolithic Si3N4, as
illustrated in Fig. 4. For these ceramic composites load-carrying oxide layers are formed through tribochemical reactions
during the running-in process, as analysed by Auger electron
spectroscopy (AES) and ESCA [ 81. AES element distribution micrographs of the wear tracks of Si,N4-TiN show an
increase oxygen and titanium concentration when compared
with specimen surface outside the wear track, see Fig. 5.
ESCA investigations revealed titanium oxide phases in the
wear tracks. TIN oxidizes at temperatures above 550 C to
TiO, --x and can reduce friction and wear at suitable stoichiometric conditions.
The results of these screening experiments
with new
ceramic composites (which are not yet optimized) indicate

158

H. Czichos et al. /Wear

Solid

state

Self-mated
Air

FN =

unstressed

friction
sliding
10

190 (1995) 155-161

wear track

WI

couples

T z 22C

T : 8OOC
Sliding

velocity

Fig. 4. Sliding wear data of new ceramic composites, S&N4 and S&N,-TIN.

the interesting application potential of advanced ceramic

materials. In addition it should be noted as a general beneficial
characteristic of ceramic is that they cannot fail catastrophically through adhesion and seizure like metallic materials.
4.2. Gluss and glass composites
Of special interest in tribological practice for cases where
liquid lubricants are not allowed (e.g. food production and
handling machines) are materials which form lubricious layers during operation.
Polymer materials are candidates for such purposes, but
they fail if the friction induced temperature increase in the
contacts exceeds material characteristic limits. Preliminary
tests indicated that glass materials may be an alternative.
Further pin-on-disc tests have therefore been performed with
different types of glass and glass composites [ 91.
It was expected that considering the brittleness of glass
only reinforced glass materials would be useful. The reinforcing materials must withstand the production temperatures
of glass, so only ceramic fibres and additives came into consideration. Because of the abrasivity of these types of fillers
ceramic counterparts have been chosen.
The test conditions have been: normal force, 10 N; continuous sliding velocity, 0.1-1.0 m s-l; laboratory surrounding
atmosphere and temperature (RH = 40%, T= 22 C)
The wear coefficients determined for the different glass
types sliding against Al,o 3 in Fig. 6 indicate that reinforcement
with high modulus
carbon fibres (Youngs
modulus
540 GPa) or with C fibres plus Zr02 lowers the wear coefficients below the lop6 mm3 N-l m- limit for useful application. The corresponding
steady state friction coefficients
are 0.18 and 0.13.
These composites fulfil both criteria for suitable engineering application in unlubricated contacts. The high-modulus
C fibre reinforced glasses behave equally well against other
counterbodies such as steel AISI 52 100.
Surface analyses with small spot ESCA, EDX and laser
Raman spectroscopy indicated a formation of graphite layers

WO 616 A; T = BOOC; v = 0.38 m/s;

F, = IO N; s = 1200 m; rotating disc

Fig. 5. Titanium distribution and oxygen distribution

ceramic composite Si3N4-TiN.

on a wear surface of

and glass transfer from the high-modulus C fibre reinforced

glass pins to the Al:, counterbody. This formation of selflubricating graphite layers explains the fine tribological
behaviour of that tribocouple.
4.3. Polymers and polymer composites
The tribology of new polymer compositions and composite
materials was studied systematically
by investigating
30
materials types with a pin-on-disk tribometer [ IO]. In these
studies a pronounced influence of polymer types on their
tribological behaviour was found. This is shown in Fig. 7 for
polymer composites based on polyamides.
For the polyamide composites the wear coefficient could
be reduced below a level of k= lo- mm3 N- m-l. The
most beneficial polymer composites for the experimental conditions applied were:
?? polyamide
(trade name A3R) with an anti-friction modifier
0 polyamide (trade name KR 4290) filled with 20 vol.%
carbon short fibres, randomly distributed.

H. Czichoset al. /Wear 190 (1995) 155-161

Sodium-bore-silicate

glass (Duran);

v: 1 m/s; fiber content:

40 vol.-%

159

rotating

disc: Al?Os

1 E-03

__

IE-05

$
0
k

______

f
g IE-06
E

IE-07

Duran g,ass without

fibers

I
Duran glass + C-fiber
(high strength)

I
Duran glean + C-fiber
(high modulus)

I
Duran gtasa + no2
+ C-fiber (high modulus)

Fig. 6. Wear coefficient of glass types sliding against Al?, without lubrication

Ill

FJii
10-s

Counter body: St 100 Cr 6: R, - 0.4 Pm

Counter

body: AI2 0, (+ PTFE);

103
R, = 4 pm

P
km
102
IO

1
u
10-l ;
1o-2
10-g

PYde Po~lyt;traaw

PypaAmide

P r FE

Fig. 7. Sliding wear data of polymer composites

(pin-on-disk

tribometer).

These polyamide composites were studied further with

respect to their potential applications in maintenance-free
robotics bearings by a newly developed linear tribometer with
reversing motion [ 111. This computer-aided
tribometer
measures continuously the friction and wear as a function of
load and velocity. In addition, friction-induced
temperatures
were determined by thermocouples
and the friction heat
induced elongations of the specimens could therefore be compensated for. In these studies a special counterbody (namely
a Al:,-coating
containing PTFE) was used in studying the
tribological

behaviour

of the polymer composites

[ 121.

10-s
PA 66

PA 66
+ AFM

Fig. 8. Sliding wear data (reversing

tribometer).

PA 66
+

C-fibres

motion) of polymer composites

(linear

Fig. 8 shows that for the polyamide composites and conditions of dry reversed sliding, only the polyamides with
carbon fibres are in the range of a wear level of
k= lop6 mm3 N- m-. However, through the application
of a special synthetic lubricant (silicon base) with an antifriction modifier , the wear values could be reduced
considerably.
The
lowest
wear
value
(less
than
k= lop9 mm3 N- m-) under these conditions was determined for the polyamide composite material (20% C fibres) .
Because the polymer specimens had a contact area of 10 mm
by 20 mm, extremely low wear rates (perpendicular
to the
contact area) of 1.5 nm km- sliding distance is observed.

160

H. Czichos et al. /Wear

190 (1995) 155-161

The friction coefficient under those optimized conditions was

in the rangef= 0.03-0.08.
4.4. Coatings
The advances in coating technology have encouraged the
use of thin hard layers for wear protection in various applications for example, abrasion resistant decorative layers, cutting tools.
Carbon-based coatings combine different beneficial properties such as high hardness, low roughness, high resistance
against corrosion and wear, and usually low coefficients of
friction. Recent developments in coating technology provide
a broad spectrum of carbon-based coatings including carbon,
hydrocarbon, metal-doped hydrocarbons, diamond-like carbon and diamond coatings. Each of these types of coatings
behaves in a typical manner under different tribological applications and because of the sometimes insufficient literature
description of their composition and structure, discrepancies
in tribological valuation appear.
A prenormative study at BAM, supported by the CEC in
the frame of a BRITE/EURAM
project, to characterise the
influences of test parameters on friction and wear of such
coatings was started. Tribotesting with a small oscillating
sliding motion was chosen because of the usually good reproducibility of that method and the reduced the need of test
samples compared with other methods.
To gain the necessary information
the following test
parameter variation was performed:
?? stroke length: 0.2 mm-O.4
mm-O.8 mm
?? frequency:
5 Hz-10
Hz-20
Hz
0 load: 5 N-10 N-20 N
?? relative humidity:
3%-50%-100%.
The number of cycles was n = 100 000 and the temperature
of the ambient air in the test chamber was 25 C.
The results presented here are for a Me:CH coating fretting
against a steel ball (AK1 52 100) [ 111.
The coating was produced by an ARC process on tool steel
(M 3). The metal content in the coating was approximately
15 wt.% of Ti and W each.
Fig. 9 shows the evolution of friction and wear during a
test in a more qualitative manner for one of the test runs. It
can be clearly seen that very short test runs for that couple
under a dry air atmosphere would lead to a totally incorrect
evaluation of the tribological behaviour. After this runningin period the low wear rate and the extremely low friction
values of about 0.01-0.02 are evident. Additional short running tests (n = 1 .OOO) and electron microprobe analysis of
the wear scar on the ball show that the running-in behaviour
is caused by the wear of the steel ball. This is followed by an
incubation period then a transfer of coating material to the
ball.
Fig. 10 and Fig. 11 compile the wear results from all variations of test parameters in one diagram.
The figures show the wear coefficient k and the friction
coefficient as a function of some kind of power parameter

Fig. 9. Evolution of friction and wear during an oscillating

steel ball/Me:CH-coated
disk in dry air.

AISI 52100

10

( u = 3% )

I M3 + Me : CH

20

40

AX*-

F,

sliding test with

80

160

320

(Nmmls)

Fig. 10. Wear factor versus the power parameter for tests in dry air.

AlSl52100/

M3+Me:CH

(lJ=3%)

092 ,

$
E

0,l

.9!

10

20
Ax-v-F,

Fig. 11. Coefficient

air.

40

80

160

320

(NmmIs)

of friction versus the power parameter

for tests in dry

Ax uF, (N mm s-i). This parameter is the product of the

test parameters stroke length, frequency and normal force.
The diagrams reveal that the tested tribocouple fulfils both
application criteria stated for technical products. Only the
wear factor for the highest power parameter exceeds a little
the limit of k< 10e6 mm3 N-i m-i.
For all test parameters and the humidity range tested the
values of friction and wear coefficients are far below 0.2 and
lop6 mm3 N-i m-i respectively, with the exception of tests
conducted in dry air and highest power parameter.
5. Concluding remarks
In this overview paper, the prerequisites for advances in
tribology were analysed from a materials point of view in

H. Czichos et al. / Wear 190 (I 995) 155-161

discussing the tribological

behaviour of newer types of
ceramics, glasses, polymers and coatings.
The results show that through material modifications (i.e.
microstructural
changes),
composite
structures,
special
(solid) lubricants and coatings a beneficial tribological
behaviour can be obtained. These results underline the great
potential of advanced materials for tribological applications.

Acknowledgements
The authors thank Mrs. S. Binkowski and Mrs. U. Ernst
for their technical help in preparing this paper.

References
[I] H. Czichos. R. Helms and J. Lexow, Industrial and Materials
Technologies:
Research
and Development
Trends and Net&,
Bundesanstah fdr Materialforschung
und -priifung, Berlin, 1991, 97
PP.
Systems Approach to the Science and
[2] H. Czichos, Tribology-A
Technology of Friction, Lubrication and Wear, Elsevier, Amsterdam,
1978.
[ 31 B. Ullmann, New Materials Market Outlook, Bureau dInformations
et de Previsions Economiques (BIPE). Neuilly-sur-Seine.
1989.
[4] H. Czichos, R.A. Vitro, J. Lexow and D.P. Eade (eds.), Materials
Technology and Development; Advance Technology Alert System
(ATAS) Bulletin 5, United Nations, New York, 1988, 1.56 pp.
[5] H. Czichos and K.-H. Habig, Tribology Handbook Friction and Wear,
Vieweg Verlag, Braunschweig,
1992,560 pp. (in German).
[6] K.-H. Habig, Tribological
behaviour
of engineering
ceramics,
Ingenieur-Werkstofie,
1 (1989) 78 (in German).
[7] M. Woydt, A. Skopp and K.-H. Habig, Dry friction and wear of selfmated sliding couples of Sic-Tic
and Siy,-TiN, Wear, 148 ( 1991)
377.
[ 81 A. Skopp and M. Woydt, Characterization ofthe tribological behaviour
of ceramic sliding pairs with modem surface analytical tools,
Materialwissenschaji
und Werkstoflechnik,
22 ( 1991) 289 (in
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[9] A. Skopp, M. Woydt, K.-H. Habig, T. Klug and R. Bruckner, Friction
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glass composites
against ceramic materials, Wear, 169 (1993) 243.
32
[lo] E. Santner, Testing techniques in tribology, Materialpriijiutg,
(1990) 18 (in German).

161

[ 111 D. Klaffke, Tribological behaviour of Me:CH coatings on steel against

steel in the case of oscillating sliding motion at room temperature,
Diamond Films Technol., 3 (3) ( 1994) 149.
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1990, ASM International, Materials Park, OH, 1990, p. 301.

Biographies
Horst Czichos: is president of the Federal Institute of Materials Research and Testing (Bundesanstalt
fiir Materialprtifung,
BAM)
Berlin-Dahlem
and adjunct
professor
(Honorar-Professor)
at the Technische Fachhochschule Berlin. He was educated in both engineering and physics and
worked for several years in the optical industry until he joined
BAM in 1966. He received a degree (Ing.-grad.) in precision
engineering from the Polytechnic Ingenieurakademy
Gauss
Berlin, an MSc. (Dipl.-Phys.) in physics from the Free University and a doctors degree from the Technical University
of Berlin. He has published extensively on various topics in
tribology and on the application of modern measuring techniques and systems analysis to this field.
Dieter Klaffke: is head of the laboratory Fretting wear;
Cryotribology
of BAM. He studied physics at the Technical
University in Berlin and received the degree of doctor of
engineering from the same university in 1978. He joined the
BAM in 1970 and worked in the field of fatigue of metals.
Since 1980 he has been working in the field of tribology;
mainly fretting wear with special interest in ceramics and
coatings.
Erich Santner: is head of the subdivision Tribology; Wear
Protection of BAM. He studied physics at the Free University of Berlin and received an M. SC. (Dipl.-Phys.)
and a
doctors degree from the same University. He was engaged
in nuclear research, radiation protection and nuclear fuel analysis at the Hahn-Meitner-Institute
for nuclear research and at
the BAM. In 1986 he joined the tribology group of BAM.
The main working fields are tribology of polymers, coatings,
development of measurement methods, microtribology
and
tribophysics.