Diamond-Like Carbon film (DLC film) shows excellent tribological properties. However, due to its brittleness, conventional DLC coating can not be applied to a tribological coating on soft substrates. To overcome this problem, a segment-structured DLC (S-DLC) coating has been suggested. In this technique, DLC film is divided into small segments by grooves. On the other hand, requirement for tribological application of DLC film under lubricant condition. However, sufficient research efforts have not been devoted toward S-DLC under lubricant condition. In this study, lubricated S-DLC film, which composed of S-DLC with grooves filled with grease, was investigated. Tribological properties of lubricated S-DLC were evaluated for various types of grease and segment shapes. It was shown that excellent tribological properties were obtained by combination of low viscosity grease and S-DLC coating with large size segments and narrow grooves.
