Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS
Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS

Equipment

Ball-on-flat test setup for tribological characterization
© Fraunhofer IWS Dresden
Ball-on-flat test setup for tribological characterization
SEM image of a carbon-chromium multi-layer cross section
© Fraunhofer IWS Dresden
SEM image of a carbon-chromium multi-layer cross section
Coating thickness evaluation on a carbon coating with complex interlayer architeecture, using crater-grinding method
© Fraunhofer IWS Dresden
Coating thickness evaluation on a carbon coating with complex interlayer architeecture, using crater-grinding method

Tribometers

  • assessment of friction and wear
  • motion: rotating, oscillating
  • normal load: 1…2000 N
  • frequency: 1 … 500 Hz
  • temperature: -5…350°C
  • lubrication: single drop, bath, unlubricated, controlled atmosphere, vacuum
  • devices: SRV4 (Optimol Instruments),  SVT (Wazau), Basalt UHVT-14 (Tetra)


LAwave Measurement System

  • laser-induced surface acoustic wave spectroscopy for measurement of elastic properties, coating thickness, damage depth, defect density
  • different sensors for coating thickness from 3 nm to 500 µm
  • devices: stand-alone, mobile table-top


Scratch Tester

  • adhesion testing
  • diamond indenter with Rockwell geometry, tip radius 50, 100, 200 and 500 µm
  • normal load 10…100 N


Nano and Micromechanical Testing Devices

  • instrumented indentation testing, (nanoindentation) and scratch testing
  • indentation hardness and modulus, adhesion, friction force, acoustic emission, vertical displacement
  • normal load 0,01…30 N
  • indenter geometries: Berkovich, sphere with radius 10, 20, 50 und 100 µm
  • 2 devices: ZHN (Zwick/Roell), MCT3 (Anton Paar)


Crater-grinding Method

  • coating thickness measurement through crater-grinding method
  • fully automated measurement of up to 10 calottes, automated slurry feed
  • can be used for depth-resolved measurements for instrumented indentation testing
  • duration 1 min up to 20 hours
  • device: KSG 110 (Inovap)


Contact Mechanical Simulation

  • software FilmDoctor Studio
  • coating systems with up to 5 individual layers
  • consideration and calculation of intrinsic stresses
  • examples of contact cases: nanoindentation, tribological ball-on-plate contact, scratch testing
  • import and calculation with actually measured data

We also use resources of other in-house research groups.


Raman Spectroscopy

  • example: Characterization of configuration and hybridization of amorphous carbon coatings (a-C:H, a-C, ta-C)


Microscopy and Other Imaging Methods

  • optical microscopy, including DIC (differential interference contrast method)
  • 3D microscopy (confocal, interferometric)
  • scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy (EDS)