Water lubrication is quite promising in the field of lubrication since it is pollution free, low in cost and can be easily maintained. However, water has a low viscosity, strong cavitation erosion, poor lubricity, etc. In addition, friction pairs used under the condition of water lubrication are vulnerable to erosion and suffer serious abrasion. All of these have limited the application of water lubrication. Therefore, the development of friction pair materials with excellent anti-wear and anti-erosion properties under water lubrication has become a key problem to be solved in water lubrication.

Researchers at the State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication of the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics (LICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have developed a preparation method of a textured diamond-like carbon composite film for water lubrication. They received a Chinese invention patent for the technique on November 30. The patent is ZL200810189022.1.

Adopting a laser surface micro-processing technology, researchers first prepare a microtexture appearance molding on the surface of a workpiece. Then the workpiece is plasma-cleaned by a magnetic control sputtering deposition technology. Finally, by plating a titanium transition layer and doping a diamond-like carbon film of titanium, a film can be obtained on the surface of the workpiece.

The film greatly enhances the stability and the antifriction and abrasion resistance performance of the conventional diamond-like carbon film under the condition of water lubrication with the friction coefficient reduction reaching up to 40 percent and the abrasion resistance enhanced by 1-3 times.

The invention is suitable for surface protection and strengthening of a transmission friction pair of a mechanical sealing ring, a thrust bearing and other machines under the water-consuming environment, and the service life is prolonged.