Development of a new type micro slurry-jet erosion (MSE) tester for evaluation of wear properties of hard thin coatings

Versatile and reliable techniques for evaluation of hard thin coatings are necessary for the development and tribological assessment of new coatings. We have proposed a new type of micro slurry-jet erosion test (MSE), i.e. a solid particle impact erosion test for swift evaluation of wear properties of hard thin coatings. We are using a new type of MSE test apparatus (pot type tester) that makes it possible to obtain the wear loss per unit mass of erodent, which in this test was alumina particles with 1.2 μm in average size. Its performance was evaluated using a Si wafer plate under various test condition. In addition, the MSE tester was demonstrated by evaluating the wear resistance of TiN on high speed steel substrate. The new MSE test generates highly reproducible results and is very sensitive to the quality of the coatings