Research progress in preparation and tribological property of ceramic-based high-temperature self-lubricating composite coatings

Abstract

In most cases, friction and wear are not conducive to mechanical equipment. As a large country in machinery manufacturing, reducing friction and wear is of great significance to industrial progress and sustainable development. Ceramic-based composite coating is one of the common systems in industrial applications. It uses ceramic materials as the matrix and dopes with lubricating materials as the second phase. On the one hand, it inherits the excellent high temperature stability and strength of the ceramic phases; on the other hand, it improves the lubricating performance in the common friction environment. Therefore, it is widely used in ships, aerospace, biotechnology and high speed trains, etc., and it has received extensive attention and exploration by researchers. Ceramic-based high-temperature self-lubricating composite coatings were focused on in this paper. First, the basic classification of coatings and solid lubricating materials were explained. Then the present researches progress was reviewed, meanwhile, the influence of process parameters on the performance of ceramic-based high-temperature self-lubricating coatings and improvement methods were focused on. Hence the key factors for improving the surface tribological properties of ceramic-based high-temperature self-lubricating composite coatings were summarized, and the feasibility or research potential of improving the friction reducing and wear-resistant performance was discussed. Finally, the current shortcomings of ceramic-based high-temperature self-lubricating composite coatings were summarized in two points: (1) the phase analysis of composite coatings is still focusing on the phenomenon, and without complete theoretical basis; (2) the methods for improving the structure and tribological properties of composite coatings under different preparation processes are relatively simple. Therefore, the corresponding solutions and possible development orientation were proposed preliminarily: (1) further explore the synergistic mechanisms between the ceramic-based and different lubricating phases, additional components, high temperature environment, and establish the theoretical basis of the system; (2) for the different forming mechanisms of preparation processes, the influence of the synergistic effect of process parameters on the microstructure of the composite coating needed to be focused on, expanding the improvement method of the preparation process.

Keywords

• ceramic-based high-temperature wear-resistant composite coatings
• solid lubrication
• preparation process
• tribological property