Tribological behaviors of plasma-treated carbon composite grooved surfaces

The tribological behavior of carbon epoxy composites whose surfaces have many small grooves of 100 mu m width were compared with respect to plasma treatment duration under dry sliding conditions. The surface coating material on the grooved surface was high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and suitable plasma treatment time for grooved composite surface for atmospheric pressure plasma system was experimentally investigated by measuring the friction coefficient and wear volume. The wear morphology of the composites observed with a scanning electron microscopic (SEM) revealed that the surface coating layer on the grooved surface significantly improved the wear resistance and the plasma treatment can improve the durability of the coating layer. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.