Superlubricity und tribochemischer Verschleiß: Interaction of Tetrahedral Amorphous Carbon Coatings with Fatty Acid-based Lubricants

Wasserstofffreie tetraedrisch amorphe Kohlenstoffschichten, auch ta-C-Schichten, weisen aufgrund ihrer hohen Härte und Passivität überragende Reib- und Verschleißeigenschaften aus. In zahlreichen Anwendungen führen sie zu nennenswerter Reibungsminderung, höherer Verschleiß- und Fressbeständigkeit sowie besseren Notlaufeigenschaften. Sie sind kompatibel mit konventionellen Schmierölen, Wasser oder können auch trocken eingesetzt werden. In der vergleichsweise jungen Wissenschaft der Schichttribologie gibt es jedoch noch zahlreiche bemerkenswerte Phänomene, die bislang noch nicht ausreichend verstanden wurden. Hierzu zählt die Wechselwirkung von ta-C-Schichten mit fettsäurebasierten Schmierstoffen, welche aus Pflanzenölen gewonnen werden. Die vorhandenen Forschungsarbeiten berichten unter anderem von Supraschmierung (englisch Superlubricity), teilweise auch von starkem Verschleiß. Insbesondere der Supraschmiereffekt, bei dem die Reibungsverluste nahezu vollständig verschwinden, ist in Kombination mit nachhaltigen Schmierstoffen zum Erreichen aktueller klima- und umweltpolitischer Ziele von höchster Relevanz. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird zunächst die Literatur zur Schmierstoffwechselwirkung von ta-C-Schichten umfassend aufgearbeitet. Anschließend wird die tribologische Interaktion speziell mit fettsäurebasierten Schmierstoffen anhand systematischer Experimente untersucht, wobei verschiedene Parameter, wie beispielsweise Schmiermittel, Temperatur, Flächenpressung und Gegenkörpermaterial eines oszillierenden Kugel-Scheibe-Modellsystems nacheinander variiert werden. Im Ergebnis werden Zustände des tribologischen Systems identifiziert, bei denen trotz höchster Härte der Oberfläche einer sehr starker Verschleiß auftritt. Dieses Phänomen wird als tribochemischer Verschleiß erkannt, von dem sonst sehr geringen abrasiven Verschleiß abgegrenzt und in Bezug auf die vorhandene Literatur eingeordnet. Unter anderen günstigen Umständen kann der Verschleiß an ta-C-Schichten unter der Messgrenze liegen und Supraschmierung auftreten. Sowohl für den tribochemischen Verschleiß als auch die Supraschmierung wird die Rolle der Kohlenstoff-Doppelbindung der Ölsäure herausgearbeitet, welche oft Hauptbestandteil fettsäurebasierter Schmierstoffe ist. Insgesamt können mit der Kombination von ta-C-Schichten und fettsäurebasierten Schmierstoffen verschiedene außergewöhnliche tribologische Eigenschaften erzielt werden. Eine dafür notwendige Systematisierung der möglichen Wechselwirkungen und erforderlichen Parameterfenster sind in dieser Arbeit dargelegt und bieten die Grundlage für eine zukünftige industrielle Anwendung von supraschmierenden Systemen.:Danksagung Abkürzungsverzeichnis 1. Einleitung 2. Grundlagen 2.1 Tetraedrisch amorphe Kohlenstoffschichten 2.1.1 Die Modifikationen des Kohlenstoffs 2.1.2 Klassifikation amorpher Kohlenstoffschichten 2.1.3 Wachstumsmechanismus 2.1.4 Beschichtungsverfahren 2.1.5 Eigenschaften und Struktur 2.1.6 Temperaturstabilität 2.1.7 Strukturaufklärung mit Raman-Spektroskopie 2.1.8 Technische Anwendung 2.2 Tribologie 2.2.1 Geschichte, Definition und Bedeutung 2.2.2 Beschreibung tribologischer Systeme 2.2.3 Reibung und Verschleiß 2.2.4 Schmierung und Stribeck-Kurve 2.2.5 Schmierstoffe 2.2.6 Tribologische Prüfung 2.2.7 Tribologie von Schichtsystemen 2.3 Superlubricity 2.3.1 Geschichte, Definition und aktuelle Bedeutung 2.3.2 Definition und Einteilung 2.3.3 Funktionsmodelle und Beispielsysteme 2.4 Tribologische Eigenschaften von ta-C-Schichten 2.4.1 Überblick 2.4.2 Eigenschaften der Oberfläche 2.4.3 Schmierung mit konventionellen Schmierstoffen und Additiven 2.4.4 Schmierung mit Gasen, feuchter Luft und Wasser 2.4.5 Superlubricity auf ta-C 2.4.6 Rehybridisierung und Grafitisierung 2.4.7 Verschleiß - Größenordnung und Mechanismen 2.4.8 Mechanisch dominierte Verschleißmechanismen 2.4.9 Tribochemische Prozesse 3. Arbeitsziele 4. Experimentelle Methoden 4.1 Tribologische Prüfung 4.1.1 Prüfkörpergeometrie und Flächenpressung 4.1.2 Werkstoffe und Beschichtungen 4.1.3 Verwendete Schmiermittel 4.1.4 Aufbau und Funktion des Tribometers 4.1.5 Versuchsdurchführung 4.1.6 Prüfparameter 4.1.7 Bestimmung der Reibung 4.1.8 Bestimmung des Verschleißes 4.1.9 Einordnung und Relevanz der untersuchten Systeme 4.1.10 Versuchsplanung 4.2 Raman-Spektroskopie 4.3 Mikroskopie 5. Ergebnisse 5.1 Tribochemischer Verschleiß 5.1.1 Referenzzustand 5.1.2 Schmierstoffeinfluss 5.1.3 Struktur der Kohlenstoffphase 5.1.4 Temperatureinfluss 5.1.5 Oberflächenzustand 5.1.6 Gegenkörpermaterial 5.1.7 Quantifizierung und Analyse des Verschleißmechanismus 5.2 Superlubricity 5.2.1 Schmierstoffeinfluss 5.2.2 Relative Schmierfilmhöhe 5.2.3 Rehybridisierung 5.2.4 Materialpaarung 6. Diskussion 6.1 Verschleiß an ta-C-Schichten 6.1.1 Abrasiver und tribochemischer Verschleiß 6.1.2 Tribochemischer Mechanismus 6.1.3 Verschleißkinetik 6.2 Reibungsminderung auf ta-C-Schichten 6.2.1 Ultra-low friction 6.2.2 Superlubricity 6.2.3 Glättung 6.2.4 Schmierungszustand 6.2.5 Bedeutung der Rehybridisierung für Superlubricity 6.3 Forschungsbedarf 7. Zusammenfassung und Ausblick LiteraturverzeichnisHydrogen-free tetrahedral amorphous carbon coatings, called ta-C coatings, show superior friction and wear properties due to their high hardness and passivity. In numerous applications, they account for noteworthy friction reduction, increased wear and fretting resistance as well as improved emergency running properties. They are compatible with conventional lubrication oils and water, or can be used without lubricant. In the comparably young science of coating tribology there are further noteworthy phenomena, which are not sufficiently understood. One of them is the interaction of ta-C coatings with fatty acid-based lubricants, which can be derived from vegetable oils. Among other, existing research reports superlubricity and sometimes very strong wear. Especially superlubricity, where friction losses nearly vanish and sustainable lubricants are used, is a topic of utmost relevance to achieve current climate political and environmental goals. In the presented work, the available literature to lubricant interaction of ta-C coatings is comprehensively reviewed. Then, tribological interaction with fatty acid-based lubricants in particular is investigated with systematic experiments, successively varying parameters like lubricant, temperature, contact pressure and counter body material in an oscillating ball-on-flat model system. As a result, conditions of the tribological system are identified in which strong wear occurs, despite highest hardness of the surface. The phenomenon is then attributed to tribochemical wear, distinguished from usually much lower abrasive wear and discussed with respect to existing literature. In other beneficial circumstances, wear decreases below measurability and superlubricity can occur. For both tribochemical wear and superlubricity the role of the carbon double bond in oleic acid is highlighted, which is the main component fatty acid-based lubricants. In summary, various exceptional tribological properties can be achieved when combining ta-C coatings and fatty acid-based lubricants. This work presents both a systematic categorization as well as parameter windows, and thus the foundation for future industrial application of superlubricious systems.:Danksagung Abkürzungsverzeichnis 1. Einleitung 2. Grundlagen 2.1 Tetraedrisch amorphe Kohlenstoffschichten 2.1.1 Die Modifikationen des Kohlenstoffs 2.1.2 Klassifikation amorpher Kohlenstoffschichten 2.1.3 Wachstumsmechanismus 2.1.4 Beschichtungsverfahren 2.1.5 Eigenschaften und Struktur 2.1.6 Temperaturstabilität 2.1.7 Strukturaufklärung mit Raman-Spektroskopie 2.1.8 Technische Anwendung 2.2 Tribologie 2.2.1 Geschichte, Definition und Bedeutung 2.2.2 Beschreibung tribologischer Systeme 2.2.3 Reibung und Verschleiß 2.2.4 Schmierung und Stribeck-Kurve 2.2.5 Schmierstoffe 2.2.6 Tribologische Prüfung 2.2.7 Tribologie von Schichtsystemen 2.3 Superlubricity 2.3.1 Geschichte, Definition und aktuelle Bedeutung 2.3.2 Definition und Einteilung 2.3.3 Funktionsmodelle und Beispielsysteme 2.4 Tribologische Eigenschaften von ta-C-Schichten 2.4.1 Überblick 2.4.2 Eigenschaften der Oberfläche 2.4.3 Schmierung mit konventionellen Schmierstoffen und Additiven 2.4.4 Schmierung mit Gasen, feuchter Luft und Wasser 2.4.5 Superlubricity auf ta-C 2.4.6 Rehybridisierung und Grafitisierung 2.4.7 Verschleiß - Größenordnung und Mechanismen 2.4.8 Mechanisch dominierte Verschleißmechanismen 2.4.9 Tribochemische Prozesse 3. Arbeitsziele 4. Experimentelle Methoden 4.1 Tribologische Prüfung 4.1.1 Prüfkörpergeometrie und Flächenpressung 4.1.2 Werkstoffe und Beschichtungen 4.1.3 Verwendete Schmiermittel 4.1.4 Aufbau und Funktion des Tribometers 4.1.5 Versuchsdurchführung 4.1.6 Prüfparameter 4.1.7 Bestimmung der Reibung 4.1.8 Bestimmung des Verschleißes 4.1.9 Einordnung und Relevanz der untersuchten Systeme 4.1.10 Versuchsplanung 4.2 Raman-Spektroskopie 4.3 Mikroskopie 5. Ergebnisse 5.1 Tribochemischer Verschleiß 5.1.1 Referenzzustand 5.1.2 Schmierstoffeinfluss 5.1.3 Struktur der Kohlenstoffphase 5.1.4 Temperatureinfluss 5.1.5 Oberflächenzustand 5.1.6 Gegenkörpermaterial 5.1.7 Quantifizierung und Analyse des Verschleißmechanismus 5.2 Superlubricity 5.2.1 Schmierstoffeinfluss 5.2.2 Relative Schmierfilmhöhe 5.2.3 Rehybridisierung 5.2.4 Materialpaarung 6. Diskussion 6.1 Verschleiß an ta-C-Schichten 6.1.1 Abrasiver und tribochemischer Verschleiß 6.1.2 Tribochemischer Mechanismus 6.1.3 Verschleißkinetik 6.2 Reibungsminderung auf ta-C-Schichten 6.2.1 Ultra-low friction 6.2.2 Superlubricity 6.2.3 Glättung 6.2.4 Schmierungszustand 6.2.5 Bedeutung der Rehybridisierung für Superlubricity 6.3 Forschungsbedarf 7. Zusammenfassung und Ausblick Literaturverzeichni

Surface acoustic wave spectroscopy versus nanoindentation: Potentials and limits for coating characterization

Measuring mechanical film properties is essential for understanding and designing coating systems as well for controlling quality in coating manufacturing. Since more than two decades, two methods for determining Young’s modulus and other mechanical properties of thin films are widely used: The instrumented indentation technique (nanoindentation) and the laser-induced surface acoustic wave spectroscopy (LiSAWS). Due to their different physical principles, both methods address different fields of application but also complement each other. This presentation gives an overview for typical applications, strengths and limits for both methods from practical points of view like precision, requirements for sample material, preparation and test setup, additional results, standardization, and measuring time. Several examples for the application of both methods are discussed: • Hard protective coatings (deposited by PVD and thermal spraying) measured with both techniques • Films with less than 15 nm thickness • Effect of texture, microstructure and defects on measured propertie

Phosphorus fluxes in two contrasting forest soils along preferential pathways after experimental N and P additions

The assessment of impacts of an altered nutrient availability, e.g. as caused by consistently high atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition, on ecosystem phosphorus (P) nutrition requires understanding of P fluxes. However, the P translocation in forest soils is not well understood and soil P fluxes based on actual measurements are rarely available. Therefore, the aims of this study were to (1) examine the effects of experimental N, P, and P?N additions on P fluxes via preferential flow as dominant transport pathway (PFPs) for P transport in forest soils; and (2) determine whether these effects varied with sites of contrasting P status (loamy high P/sandy low P). During artificial rainfall experiments, we quantified the P fluxes in three soil depths and statistically analyzed effects by application of linear mixed effects modeling. Our results show that the magnitude of P fluxes is highly variable: In some cases, water and consequently P has not reached the collection depth. By contrast, in soils with a well-developed connection of PFPs throughout the profile fluxes up to 4.5 mg P m-2 per experiment (within 8 h, no P addition) were observed. The results furthermore support the assumption that the contrasting P nutrition strategies strongly affected P fluxes, while also the response to N and P addition markedly differed between the sites. As a consequence, the main factors determining P translocation in forest soils under altered nutrient availability are the spatiotemporal patterns of PFPs through soil columns in combination with the P nutrition strategy of the ecosystem

Advanced adhesion evaluation for brittle coating materials using the scratch test method

Surfaces in tribological applications like milling tools or combustion engines components (i.e. pistons and valve trains) are commonly coated with hard PVD coatings to increase their wear resistance. An adequate adhesion of the coating to the substrate material is necessary to ensure its specific function. Therefore, reliable adhesion testing is essential. Typically, the scratch test method is used to assess a coating’s adhesion. The critical loads that are used for evaluation indicate the first occurrence of certain types of failure. However, they are strongly influenced by several parameters of the investigated material, such as coating thickness, hardness and ductility of coating and substrate material, internal stress distribution, surface topography, and others, as well as parameters of the test setup, such as diamond tip geometry and loading rate. Thus, they have to be kept constant for a comparison of different coatings, which is an extensive impairment of the scratch test method. Additionally, the critical loads alone do not contain information on the specific failure mechanism, which needs to be studies separately. As a combination of phenomenological and quantitative analysis, the concept of determining the relative area of delamination was established by our group [1]. This approach of comparing the size of delaminations in a standardized area (relative area of delamination) was found to be correlating with the stress state and less depending on the coating thickness than the critical loads. In this work, the evolution of two typical failure scenarios of hard and brittle coatings under scratching conditions is described. Furthermore, an extension of the concept of determining the delaminated area is introduced that enables the evaluation of scratch tests with different failure mechanisms and ratios of indenter radius to coating thickness (R/h ratio). Based on that, the relation of R/h ratio, failure mechanism, relative area of delamination, and indenter wear are studied in detail. It is discussed if the relative area of delamination can be used to directly compare scratch tests with different indenter radii and/or different failure mechanisms. For this purpose, hydrogen-free tetrahedral amorphous carbon coatings (ta-C) are investigated by the scratch test method with different R/h ratios to study their scratch behavior with respect to the loading conditions. In total, 40 different ta-C coatings with hardness between 50 GPa and more than 70 GPa and thickness in a range of 1 µm to 4.4 µm are investigated. [1] M. Zawischa, S. Makowski, N. Schwarzer, V. Weihnacht, Surface and Coatings Technology 308 (2016), p. 341–348

On the interplay of temporal resolution power and spatial suppression in their prediction of psychometric intelligence.

As a measure of the brain's temporal fine-tuning capacity, temporal resolution power (TRP) explained repeatedly a substantial amount of variance in psychometric intelligence. Recently, spatial suppression, referred to as the increasing difficulty in quickly perceiving motion direction as the size of the moving stimulus increases, has attracted particular attention, when it was found to be positively related to psychometric intelligence. Due to the conceptual similarities of TRP and spatial suppression, the present study investigated their mutual interplay in the relation to psychometric intelligence in 273 young adults to better understand the reasons for these relationships. As in previous studies, psychometric intelligence was positively related to a latent variable representing TRP but, in contrast to previous reports, negatively to latent and manifest measures of spatial suppression. In a combined structural equation model, TRP still explained a substantial amount of variance in psychometric intelligence while the negative relation between spatial suppression and intelligence was completely explained by TRP. Thus, our findings confirmed TRP to be a robust predictor of psychometric intelligence but challenged the assumption of spatial suppression as a representation of general information processing efficiency as reflected in psychometric intelligence. Possible reasons for the contradictory findings on the relation between spatial suppression and psychometric intelligence are discussed

Dataset of prostate MRI annotated for anatomical zones and cancer

In the present work, we present a publicly available, expert-segmented representative dataset of 158 3.0 Tesla biparametric MRIs [1]. There is an increasing number of studies investigating prostate and prostate carcinoma segmentation using deep learning (DL) with 3D architectures [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7]. The development of robust and data-driven DL models for prostate segmentation and assessment is currently limited by the availability of openly available expert-annotated datasets [8], [9], [10]. The dataset contains 3.0 Tesla MRI images of the prostate of patients with suspected prostate cancer. Patients over 50 years of age who had a 3.0 Tesla MRI scan of the prostate that met PI-RADS version 2.1 technical standards were included. All patients received a subsequent biopsy or surgery so that the MRI diagnosis could be verified/matched with the histopathologic diagnosis. For patients who had undergone multiple MRIs, the last MRI, which was less than six months before biopsy/surgery, was included. All patients were examined at a German university hospital (Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin) between 02/2016 and 01/2020. All MRI were acquired with two 3.0 Tesla MRI scanners (Siemens VIDA and Skyra, Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen, Germany). Axial T2W sequences and axial diffusion-weighted sequences (DWI) with apparent diffusion coefficient maps (ADC) were included in the data set. T2W sequences and ADC maps were annotated by two board-certified radiologists with 6 and 8 years of experience, respectively. For T2W sequences, the central gland (central zone and transitional zone) and peripheral zone were segmented. If areas of suspected prostate cancer (PIRADS score of ≥ 4) were identified on examination, they were segmented in both the T2W sequences and ADC maps. Because restricted diffusion is best seen in DWI images with high b-values, only these images were selected and all images with low b-values were discarded. Data were then anonymized and converted to NIfTI (Neuroimaging Informatics Technology Initiative) format

Ultra-fast detector for wide range spectral measurements

KALYPSO is a novel detector operating at line rates above 10 Mfps. The detector board holds a silicon or InGaAs linear array sensor with spectral sensitivity ranging from 400 nm to 2600 nm. The sensor is connected to a cutting-edge, custom designed, ASIC readout chip which is responsible for the remarkable frame rate. The FPGA readout architecture enables continuous data acquisition and processing in real time. This detector is currently employed in many synchrotron facilities for beam diagnostics and for the characterization of self-built Ytterbium-doped fiber laser emitting around 1050 nm with a bandwidth of 40 nm

Sex-Related Differences in Patient Selection for and Outcomes after Pace and Ablate for Refractory Atrial Fibrillation: Insights from a Large Multicenter Cohort.

Background: A pace and ablate strategy may be performed in refractory atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response. Objective: We aimed to assess sex-related differences in patient selection and clinical outcomes after pace and ablate. Methods: In a retrospective multicentre study, patients undergoing AV junction ablation were studied. Sex-related differences in baseline characteristics, all-cause mortality, heart failure (HF) hospitalizations, and device-related complications were assessed. Results: Overall, 513 patients underwent AV junction ablation (median age 75 years, 50% men). At baseline, men were younger (72 vs. 78 years, p < 0.001), more frequently had non-paroxysmal AF (82% vs. 72%, p = 0.006), had a lower LVEF (35% vs. 55%, p < 0.001) and more frequently had cardiac resynchronization therapy (75% vs. 25%, p < 0.001). Interventional complications were rare in both groups (1.2% vs. 1.6%, p = 0.72). Patients were followed for a median of 42 months in survivors (IQR 22-62). After 4 years of follow-up, the combined endpoint of all-cause death or HF hospitalization occurred more often in men (38% vs. 27%, p = 0.008). The same was observed for HF hospitalizations (22% vs. 11%, p = 0.021) and all-cause death (28% vs. 21%, p = 0.017). Sex category remained an independent predictor of death or HF hospitalization after adjustment for age, LVEF and type of stimulation. Lead-related complications, infections, and upgrade to ICD or CRT occurred in 2.1%, 0.2% and 3.5% of patients, respectively. Conclusions: Pace and ablate is safe with a need for subsequent device-related re-interventions in 5.8% over 4 years. We found significant sex-related differences in patient selection, and women had a more favourable clinical course after AV junction ablation

Deep learning for detection of radiographic sacroiliitis: achieving expert-level performance

Background: Radiographs of the sacroiliac joints are commonly used for the diagnosis and classification of axial spondyloarthritis. The aim of this study was to develop and validate an artificial neural network for the detection of definite radiographic sacroiliitis as a manifestation of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). Methods: Conventional radiographs of the sacroiliac joints obtained in two independent studies of patients with axSpA were used. The first cohort comprised 1553 radiographs and was split into training (n = 1324) and validation (n = 229) sets. The second cohort comprised 458 radiographs and was used as an independent test dataset. All radiographs were assessed in a central reading session, and the final decision on the presence or absence of definite radiographic sacroiliitis was used as a reference. The performance of the neural network was evaluated by calculating areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) as well as sensitivity and specificity. Cohen's kappa and the absolute agreement were used to assess the agreement between the neural network and the human readers. Results: The neural network achieved an excellent performance in the detection of definite radiographic sacroiliitis with an AUC of 0.97 and 0.94 for the validation and test datasets, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity for the cut-off weighting both measurements equally were 88% and 95% for the validation and 92% and 81% for the test set. The Cohen's kappa between the neural network and the reference judgements were 0.79 and 0.72 for the validation and test sets with an absolute agreement of 90% and 88%, respectively. Conclusion: Deep artificial neural networks enable the accurate detection of definite radiographic sacroiliitis relevant for the diagnosis and classification of axSpA

MEDBERT.de: A Comprehensive German BERT Model for the Medical Domain

This paper presents medBERTde, a pre-trained German BERT model specifically designed for the German medical domain. The model has been trained on a large corpus of 4.7 Million German medical documents and has been shown to achieve new state-of-the-art performance on eight different medical benchmarks covering a wide range of disciplines and medical document types. In addition to evaluating the overall performance of the model, this paper also conducts a more in-depth analysis of its capabilities. We investigate the impact of data deduplication on the model's performance, as well as the potential benefits of using more efficient tokenization methods. Our results indicate that domain-specific models such as medBERTde are particularly useful for longer texts, and that deduplication of training data does not necessarily lead to improved performance. Furthermore, we found that efficient tokenization plays only a minor role in improving model performance, and attribute most of the improved performance to the large amount of training data. To encourage further research, the pre-trained model weights and new benchmarks based on radiological data are made publicly available for use by the scientific community.Comment: Keno K. Bressem and Jens-Michalis Papaioannou and Paul Grundmann contributed equall