This thesis deals with the analysis of properties of hard coatings and wear resistance PVD coated technology. It focuses on the preparation, execution and evaluation of test coatings on the front ball milling cutter.

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) are electrochemical energy conversion devices which allow fuel gases, e.g. hydrogen or natural gas, to be converted to electricity and heat at much high efficiencies than combustion-based energy conversion technologies. SOFC are particularly suited to employment in stationary energy conversion applications, e.g. micro-combined heat and power (μ-CHP) and base load, which are certain to play a large role in worldwide decentralisation of power distribution and supply over the coming decades. Use of high-temperature SOFC technology within these systems is also a vital requirement in order to utilise fuel gases which are readily available in different areas of the world. Unfortunately, the limiting factor to the long-term commercialisation of SOFC systems is the redox instability, coking intolerance and sulphur poisoning of the state-of-the-art Ni-based cermet composite anode material. This research explores the ‘powder to power' development of alternative SOFC anode catalyst systems by impregnation of an A-site deficient La0.20Sr0.25Ca0.45TiO3 (LSCT[sub](A-)) anode ‘backbone' microstructure with coatings of ceria-based oxide ion conductors and metallic electrocatalyst particles, in order to create a SOFC anode which exhibits high redox stability, tolerance to sulphur poisoning and low voltage degradation rates under operating conditions. A 75 weight percent (wt. %) solids loading LSCT[sub](A-) ink, exhibiting ideal properties for screen printing of thick-film SOFC anode layers, was screen printed with 325 and 230 mesh counts (per inch) screens onto electrolyte supports. Sintering of anode layers between 1250 °C and 1350 °C for 1 to 2 hours indicated that microstructures printed with the 230 mesh screen provided a higher porosity and improved grain connectivity than those printed with the 325 mesh screen. Sintering anode layers at 1350 °C for 2 hours provided an anode microstructure with an advantageous combination of lateral grain connectivity and porosity, giving rise to an ‘effective' electrical conductivity of 17.5 S cm−1 at 850 °C. Impregnation of this optimised LSCT[sub](A-) anode scaffold with 13-16 wt. % (of the anode mass) Ce0.80Gd0.20O1.90 (CGO) and either Ni (5 wt. %), Pd, Pt, Rh or Ru (2-3 wt. %) and integration into SOFC resulted in achievement of Area Specific Resistances (ASR) of as low as 0.39 Ω cm−2, using thick (160 μm) 6ScSZ electrolytes. Durability testing of SOFC with Ni/CGO, Ni/CeO2, Pt/CGO and Rh/CGO impregnated LSCT[sub](A-) anodes was subsequently carried out in industrial button cell test rigs at HEXIS AG, Winterthur, Switzerland. Both Ni/CGO and Pt/CGO cells showed unacceptable levels of degradation (14.9% and 13.4%, respectively) during a ~960 hour period of operation, including redox/thermo/thermoredox cycling treatments. Significantly, by exchanging the CGO component for the CeO2 component in the SOFC containing Ni, the degradation over the same time period was almost halved. Most importantly, galvanostatic operation of the SOFC with a Rh/CGO impregnated anode for >3000 hours (without cycling treatments) resulted in an average voltage degradation rate of < 1.9% kh−1 which, to the author's knowledge, has not previously been reported for an alternative, SrTiO3-based anode material. Finally, transfer of the Rh/CGO impregnated LSCT[sub](A-) anode to industrial short stack (5 cells) scale at HEXIS AG revealed that operation in relevant conditions, with low gas flow rates, resulted in accelerated degradation of the Rh/CGO anode. During a 1451 hour period of galvanostatic operation, with redox cycles and overload treatments, a voltage degradation of 19.2% was observed. Redox cycling was noted to briefly recover performance of the stack before rapidly degrading back to the pre-redox cycling performance, though redox cycling does not affect this anode detrimentally. Instead, a more severe, underlying degradation mechanism, most likely caused by instability and agglomeration of Rh nanoparticles under operating conditions, is responsible for this observed degradation. Furthermore, exposure of the SOFC to fuel utilisations of >100% (overloading) had little effect on the Rh/CGO co-impregnated LSCT[sub](A-) anodes, giving a direct advantage over the standard HEXIS SOFC. Finally, elevated ohmic resistances caused by imperfect contacting with the Ni-based current collector materials highlighted that a new method of current collection must be developed for use with these anode materials.

Cycling of the relative humidity (RH) levels in the reactant streams of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells has been reported to decay fuel cell performance. This study focuses on the accelerated durability testing to examine different modes of membrane failure via RH cycling. A single PEM fuel cell with an active area of 42.25 cm2 was tested. A Greenlight G50 test station was used to establish baseline cell (Run 1) performance with 840 hours of degradation under high-humidity idle conditions at a constant current density of 10 mA cm-2. Under the same conditions, two other experiments were conducted by varying the RH. For the H2-air RH cycling test (Run 2), anode and cathode inlet gases were provided as dry and humidified gases. Another RH cycling experiment was the H2 RH cycling test (Run 3): the anode inlet gas was cycled whereas keeping the other side constantly at full humidification. These two RH cycling experiments were alternated in dry and 100% humidified conditions every 10 and 40 minutes, respectively. In the experiments, the fuel cells contained a GoreTM 57 catalyst coated membrane (CCM) and 35 BC SGL gas diffusion layers (GDLs). The fuel cell test station had been performed under idle conditions at a constant current density of 10 mA cm-2. Under the idle conditions, operating at very low current density, a low chemical degradation rate and minimal electrical load stress were anticipated. However, the membrane was expected to degrade due to additional stress from the membrane swelling/contraction cycle controlled by the RH. In this work the performance of the 100% RH humidified cell (Run 1) was compared with that of RH cycling cells (Run 2 and Run 3). Chemical and mechanical degradation of the membrane were investigated using in-situ and ex-situ diagnostic methods. The results of each measurement during and after fuel cell operation are consistent. They clearly show that changing in RH lead to an overall PEM fuel cell degradation due to the increase in membrane degradation rate from membrane resistance, fluoride ion release concentration, hydrogen crossover current, membrane thinning, and hot-spot/pin-hole formation.

Cycling of the relative humidity (RH) levels in the reactant streams of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells has been reported to decay fuel cell performance. This study focuses on the accelerated durability testing to examine different modes of membrane failure via RH cycling. A single PEM fuel cell with an active area of 42.25 cm2 was tested. A Greenlight G50 test station was used to establish baseline cell (Run 1) performance with 840 hours of degradation under high-humidity idle conditions at a constant current density of 10 mA cm-2. Under the same conditions, two other experiments were conducted by varying the RH. For the H2-air RH cycling test (Run 2), anode and cathode inlet gases were provided as dry and humidified gases. Another RH cycling experiment was the H2 RH cycling test (Run 3): the anode inlet gas was cycled whereas keeping the other side constantly at full humidification. These two RH cycling experiments were alternated in dry and 100% humidified conditions every 10 and 40 minutes, respectively. In the experiments, the fuel cells contained a GoreTM 57 catalyst coated membrane (CCM) and 35 BC SGL gas diffusion layers (GDLs). The fuel cell test station had been performed under idle conditions at a constant current density of 10 mA cm-2. Under the idle conditions, operating at very low current density, a low chemical degradation rate and minimal electrical load stress were anticipated. However, the membrane was expected to degrade due to additional stress from the membrane swelling/contraction cycle controlled by the RH. In this work the performance of the 100% RH humidified cell (Run 1) was compared with that of RH cycling cells (Run 2 and Run 3). Chemical and mechanical degradation of the membrane were investigated using in-situ and ex-situ diagnostic methods. The results of each measurement during and after fuel cell operation are consistent. They clearly show that changing in RH lead to an overall PEM fuel cell degradation due to the increase in membrane degradation rate from membrane resistance, fluoride ion release concentration, hydrogen crossover current, membrane thinning, and hot-spot/pin-hole formation.

This study has been performed at Powertrain Engineering Sweden AB (PES), a fully owned subsidiary of Volvo Cars Group, which is constantly working to develop and improve internal combustion engines. As part of this work, durability tests are performed to analyse the impact of wear on the engines. At present, there is a strong focus on visual inspections after the engines have undergone durability tests. PES wants to develop a method where collected data from these tests can be used to explain how the phenomenon of knocking and the control of lambda changes over time. The study analyses one specific durability test and investigates the methodology of data analysis by using the open-source software platform Sympathy for Data, with an add-on developed by Volvo Cars Group, for data management, visualisation and analysis. To execute the analysis, engine parameters that affect these systems as well as parameters suitable to use as response variables are identified through literature studies of internal combustion engine fundamentalsas well as internal material, and knowledge acquired at the company. The result is presented in the form of an analysis generated by the node for partial least squares regression (PLSR) which is pre-programmed in Sympathy for Data as well as the images and graphs obtained as output. For knock, the signal for the final ignition angle was found to be suitable to use as the response variable in the PLSR. A suitable response variable for lambda was more difficult to identify, this is why both signals for the measured lambda and lambda adaptation are analysed. Studies of the internal material and knowledge highlighted the fact that several engine subsystems are highly dependent on each other and that even deeper research would be necessary to fully understand the process and identify the primary cause for the variations observed in the generated models. However, partial least squares regression was performed using parameters derived from literature reviews as input (predictors) in order produce regression models to explain the variance in sought response. Well-fitting models could be created with a varying number of latent variables needed for the different responses. The output obtained from the PLSR enables further studies of the specific cases as well as the methodology itself, hence, increase the use of data analysis with the help of the software used in the department for durability testing at PES. / Denna studie är utförd hos Powertrain Engineering Sweden AB (PES), vilka är ett helägt dotterbolag till Volvo Cars Group, som arbetar med att ta fram och förbättra förbränningsmotorer. En del i detta arbete är att genomföra långtidstest för att analysera hur motorernas egenskaper ändras vid förslitning över tid. I nuläget ligger stort fokus på visuella inspektioner efter att motorerna genomgått långtidstester. PES önskar utveckla en metod där redan insamlad data som registrerats i dessa tester kan förklara hur fenomenet knack och regleringen för lambda förändras över tid. Studien är genomförd i form av en fallstudie av ett specifikt långtidstest där den öppna programvaran Sympathy for Data, tillsammans med det av Volvo Cars Group utvecklade tillägget, används för datahantering, visualisering och analys. Studien undersöker också metodiken för dataanalys med nämnd programvara. För att genomföra detta identifieras motorparametrar som påverkar de undersökta systemen samt parametrar som lämpar sig att användas som responsvariabler i en regressionsmodell. Dessa parametrar togs fram genom litteraturstudier om de fundamentala delarna i en förbränningsmotor samt från företaget förvärvad intern kunskap kring systemen. Resultatet presenteras i form av en analys genomförd med den, i Sympathy for Data, förprogrammerade noden för partial least squares regression(PLSR) samt de bilder och grafer som erhålls. För knack visade det sig att den slutliga tändningsvinkeln var lämplig att använda som respons i PLSR-modellen. En lämplig responsvariabel för lambda var mer svåridentifierad, detta förklarar varför signalerna för uppmätt lambda och lambda adaption analyseras. Inläsning av internt material och grundläggande information om förbränningsmotorer visade att delsystem i ottomotorn är beroende och påverkas av varandra vilket innebär att mer ingående studier i dessa delsystem är nödvändigt för att förstå hela processen och hitta grundorsakerna till variationerna som påvisas för responssignalerna. Vidare utfördes PLSR med de parametrar som härletts från litteraturstudier som indatasignaler (prediktorer) för att skapa en regressionsmodell som förklarar variansen i sökta responssignaler. Beroende av responssignal krävdes varierande antal latenta variabler för att uppnå en tillräckligt precis modell. Resultatet från PLSR möjliggör vidare forskning inom området och metoden som använts och har på så sätt möjliggjort för fortsatt utveckling. Detta i sin tur kan öka användandet av dataanalys med hjälp av den programvara som används vid avdelningen för långtidstest hos PES.