A methodology to determine surface durability in multifunctional coatings applied to soft substrates

In this paper, a new methodology allowing short test time with good discrimination between multifunctional layers is proposed. The test protocol is based on a method of incremental loading. By increasing the normal load in increments at a constant time interval the surface durability of both the hard layer and the solid lubricant coating was determined. The suitability, reliability and reproducibility of the proposed methodology were determined by testing commercially available solid lubricants (DLC, Teflon®, MoS2 dispersed in an inorganic binder and MoS2 dispersed in an organic binder) coated on commercial aluminium (as received and as anodised).