Ti-Ni-C nanocomposite coatings evaluated in a sliding electrical contact application

Nanocomposite Ti-Ni-C coatings, with nanosized carbide grains in an amorphous carbon (a-C) matrix have been suggested to have low friction and low contact resistance making them suitable for sliding electrical contacts. In this study we investigate further the previously observed influence of the amount of amorphous carbon, in a test set-up simulating instrumentation and control applications. The tribological and electrical performance is evaluated at high speed and continuous sliding against silver-graphite, where the mechanical load and current are fairly low. It is shown that under these circumstances there is no significant influence from the amount of a-C on neither the contact resistance nor the amount of wear of the silver-graphite. The reason for this is suggested to be that similar tribofilms are formed on the surface of the coatings, regardless of the amount of a-C phase. Degradation of the nanocomposite coatings is observed under electrical load, even though they are both much harder than the silver-graphite counter surface.