Abstract
This study was conducted to investigate the effect of DLC (diamond-like carbon) coating on fatigue properties of austenitic stainless steel SUS304. For the DLC coating, UBMS (unbalanced magnetron sputtering) equipment was used. The generated surface layer of about 2 μm thickness was composed of both the DLC layer possessing high hardness and a very thin intermediate layer to improve adhesion force between the DLC layer and the substrate. DLC coating, which was carried out at a relatively low temperature, had no influence on the microstructure so that the mechanical properties of the stainless steel were unchanged by the coating. The results of the plane-bending fatigue test showed that the DLC coating improved fatigue strength by 18%. From the results of detailed observation conducted on the fatigue fracture surface, it was suggested that the improvement in fatigue strength resulted from the suppression of fatigue crack initiation due to the surface layer, which had high adhesion force and strength.
