H13 tool steel is widely used in the mold and die industry. Due to tighter geometric tolerances and higher quality expectations, the use of hard machining has increased over the years. Hard machining refers to the machining of materials in their hardened state. The challenges with hard machining are rapid tool wear and maintaining a high surface integrity of the machined surface. Surface integrity is measured in terms of surface roughness, residual stresses, presence of surface and subsurface cracks, and the quality of the developed microstructure. In order to minimize wear and improve product quality, researchers are working on the development of different tool coatings. Some of the recent tool coatings function by adapting to their environment using heat to form thin layers of oxides, referred to as ―tribo-films‖, on the surface of the tool. If engineered properly, these tribofilms can prolong tool life and improve the surface integrity of a hard machined surface. A titanium based nano multi-layered coating (TiAlCrSiYN/TiAlCrN) has been developed by researchers at the MMRI. The tribological performance of two different coatings TiAlCrSiYN/TiAlCrN and TiAlCrN were tested in a hard machining metal cutting process. The impact of these coatings on tool wear, Cutting process (Chips) and Surface Integrity (Quality of machined surface) was assessed. This research involves characterizing the coating to understand how the formation of different oxide films (tribofilms) effect tool wear and surface integrity. The generation of these tribofilms is sensitive to coating composition and cutting condition (temperature/pressure). Next, an in-depth characterization of the chips produced during machining was carried out as part of studying the effect of different tribological conditions between the tool and workpiece. The chip's hardness, oxidation, chip formation mechanism and topography as the chip slid against the cutting tool surface was studied. Also, the Surface integrity of the machined part was investigated, considering its microstructure, residual stresses and surface roughness. Lastly, tests were performed in an attempt to accelerate the generation of beneficial tribofilms. Results indicate significant improvement in wear life and surface integrity of the machined surface due to the generation of tribo-films in this machining application. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Le chrome dur, utilisé comme revêtement de tige d’actionneurs hydrauliques linéaires, a été interdit pour risque sanitaire (directive européenne REACH). A cet effet, un revêtement de WS2 a été sélectionné par Safran Landing Systems pour substituer le chrome dur comme revêtement de tige de piston de frein hydraulique. La démarche de sélection utilisée, est limitée par son incapacité à expliquer les performances observées et démontre le besoin d’une démarche de sélection d’autant plus appropriée que la notion d’étanchéité des actionneurs hydrauliques linéaires est « floue ». Comme, la tribologie n’a pas vocation à caractériser les revêtements de surface, parce que son plus petit objet d’étude est un triplet tribologique, cette étude propose l’évaluation de la compatibilité tribologique du revêtement de WS2, avec la fonction d’étanchéité. La démarche utilisée montre que l’étanchéité est régie, par un critère en pression, et par une vérification des caractéristiques tribologiques du système tige/joints requises pour la réalisation de l’étanchéité ; ce qui nécessite un piston hydraulique instrumenté. L’absence de ce piston est compensée par une « caractérisation tribologique approchée » du contact tige/joints, qui associe les expertises tribologiques de pistons hydrauliques d’essais de qualification, appuyées par un modèle éléments finis (EF) du piston hydraulique d’une part, et les résultats d’un essai de frottement piste/joints, conçus à cet effet à l’aide d’un modèle EF d’autre part. Les résultats montrent que le système tige/joints présente de bonnes caractéristiques tribologiques pour le facteur de frottement et l’usure, alors que la localisation de l’accommodation de vitesses dans le cas du contact tige/joint d’étanchéité, accélère le débit source du revêtement et limite sa durée de vie. Enfin, cette thèse comble un vide méthodologique en proposant, une démarche de sélection d’un revêtement pour une application tribologique, et une démarche de triboconception d’un actionneur hydraulique linéaire dans le cas d’un fonctionnement quasi-statique. / Hard chromium used as rod coating in linear hydraulic actuators has been forbidden by the European Directive REACH. In this situation, a WS2 coating has been selected by Safran Landing Systems to replace the hard chromium coating on rod pistons actuators of landing gear braking systems. The selection method was unable to explain the observed performance, and shows the lack of an appropriate methodology for the rod coating selection, mainly because the sealing concept is rather vague. Since tribology is not intended to characterize surface coatings, because its smallest object of study is a tribological triplet, this study proposes the evaluation of the tribological compatibility of the WS2 coating with the sealing function of the hydraulic piston. The adopted approach shows that the sealing performance is governed by a rod/seal contact pressure criterion and by the verification of the tribological characteristics of the rod/seal contact required to achieve a sealing performance. This tribological characterization requires an instrumented hydraulic piston. The absence of this piston is compensated by an "approximate tribological characterization" of the rod/seal contact, which combines the tribological expert analysis of hydraulic pistons of qualification tests, supported by a finite elements model (FE) of the hydraulic piston, and the results of a plate rod/seal friction test, designed for this purpose using another FE model. The results show that the rod/seal contact exhibits good tribological characteristics for the friction factor and wear, whereas the location of the velocity accommodation in the case of the rod/anti-extrusion seal contact accelerates the 3rd body generation of the coating and limits its life expectancy. Finally, this thesis fills a methodological lack by proposing a method of selecting a coating for a tribological application and a triboconception method of a linear hydraulic actuator in the case of quasi-static operating conditions.