Variations in Tribological Characteristics of SM45C by PVD Coating and Thin Films

In order to accumulate data to lower the friction coefficient of a press mold, tribological tests were performed before and after coating SM45C with a PVC/PO film and plasma coating (CrN, concept). The ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification (UNSM)-treated material had a nano-size surface texture, high surface hardness, and large and deep compressive residual stress formation. Even when the load was doubled, the small amount of abrasion, small weight of the abrasion, and width and depth of the abrasion did not increase as much as those of untreated materials. A comparison of the weight change before and after the tribological test with the CrN and the concept coating material and that of the untreated material showed that the wear loss of the concept coating material and P-UNSM treated material (that is, the UNSM treated material treated with the concept coating) showed a tendency to decrease by approximately 55–75%. Concept 100N had a lower friction coefficient of about 0.6, and P-UNSM-30-100N showed almost the same curve as concept 100N and had a low coefficient of friction of about 0.6. The concept multilayer coating had a thickness of 5.32 μm. In the beginning, the coefficient of friction decreased because of the plasma coating, but it started to increase from about 250–300 s. After about 350 s, the coefficient of friction tended to approach the friction coefficient of the SM45C base metal. The SGV-280F film-attached test specimen was slightly pushed back and forth, but the SM45C base material was not exposed due to abrasion. The friction coefficient was 0.22, which was the lowest, and the tribological property was the best in this study