Finite element analysis of the contact stresses in diamond coatings subjected to a uniform normal load

摘要

Finite element analysis is used to predict the stressdistribution in a diamond-coated substrate. The model examinesthe effect of coating thickness in detail, and compares and validatesthe finite element predictions with experimental results obtainedfrom the soft impressor method applied to a series of diamondcoatings on a silicon substrate. The results demonstrate that theperformance of coating can be related to the ratio of coatingthickness to contact radius (t/a), so for example, for the siliconsubstrate most of the protection is achieved when the t/a ratio isabout 0.1, and for the diamond coating there is no advantage inusing coatings with t/a ratios grater than 1.3.