Abstract:
In this work, the wear behaviour of thin aluminium thin films (thickness range of 750-
1500 nm) deposited on rough stainless-steel substrate through radio-frequency (rf) magnetron
sputtering at varying substrate temperature (Ts) was studied. The films were studied under
extremely high wear loads of 30 N and 50 N. The coefficient of friction and material loss are
characterised as functions of the Ts of the deposited aluminium films. It was observed that due to
the evolving microstructural and roughness properties of the films, the material behaviour of the
films under extremely high sliding loads significantly depend on the substrate temperature. The
most significant coefficient of friction was observed at 60o
C and 80o
C, and highest material loss
was recorded at 100o
C. The material loss and variation of the coefficient of friction were related to
the morphology (porosity and roughness) of the sputtered thin films.