Tribology International 38 (2005) 423434

www.elsevier.com/locate/triboint

Molybdenum disulphide/titanium low friction

coating for gears application
R.I. Amaroa,1, R.C. Martinsa, J.O. Seabrab,*, N.M. Renevierc,2, D.G. Teerc
a

INEGI, Instituto de Engenharia Mecanica e Gestao Industrial, Porto, Portugal

FEUP, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
c
Teer Coatings, Ltd, Hartlebury, Worcestershire, UK

Received 12 October 2003; received in revised form 20 June 2004; accepted 28 September 2004
Available online 23 November 2004

Abstract
Multi-layer composite surface coatings made of MoS2/titanium, exhibit good mechanical and tribological properties in several industrial
applications. Its applicability to industrial gears is discussed in this work.
Several tests, like Rockwell indentations, ball cratering, pin-on-disc and reciprocating wear tests, were performed in order to evaluate the
adhesion to the substrate and the tribological performance of this coating.
Twin-disc tests, performed at high-contact pressure and high-slide-to-roll ratios, confirmed the good adhesive and tribological properties
of the MoS2/titanium coating and left good indications about the applicability of the MoS2/titanium coating to gears.
Scuffing gear tests were performed in the FZG machine in order to evaluate the anti-scuffing performance of this coating. Finally, the
MoS2/titanium coating was applied to the gearing in a gearbox and its influence on the gearbox efficiency was studied.
q 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Surface coating; Gears; Gear scuffing; Gear efficiency

1. Introduction
Power transmission equipments employing gears dissipate significant amounts of power and any improvement
in their performance represents a significant reduction in
energy consumption. Beside this, the demands of modern
mechanical transmissions require higher operating torques, higher speeds, lower operating noise and lower
weight.
In the last decades, surface coating technology was
important to achieve increased energetic performance,
allowing lower friction coefficients, higher protection against
surface failures and higher load capacity. In applications with

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: jseabra@fe.up.pt (J.O. Seabra).
1
Present address: RENAULT-C.A.C.I.A., Aveiro, Portugal.
2
Present address: Jost Institute of Tribotechnology, University of Central
Lancashire, Preston, UK.
0301-679X/$ - see front matter q 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.triboint.2004.09.003

frequent startstop operations such protection against failures, mainly scuffing, is very important.
Another important objective to be accomplished by
surface coatings in the near future is the reduction/elimination of some toxic lubricant additives and consent the use of
environment friendly lubricants.
There are several types of coatings that can be used in
gears, for instance, MoS2 (molybdenum disulphide) [1],
WC/C (tungsten carbidecarbon) [2] or the B4C (boron
carbidecarbon) [2,3] among others.
The MoS2 coatings can be improved with the codeposition of other metals such as Ti (titanium) [4] or Cr
(chromium) [5].
The tribological performance of a molybdenum disulphidetitanium composite coating is studied in this work.
The MoS2/titanium coating [4], is harder, more resistant and
less sensitive to atmospheric water vapor than other common
DLC coatings. It has already given excellent results in a wide
range of forming and cutting tools applications [6].

424

R.I. Amaro et al. / Tribology International 38 (2005) 423434

2. Molybdenum disulphidetitanium composite coating

2.1. Deposition procedure
The MoS2/titanium composite coatings [4,68] is
deposited by DC Magnetron Sputtering using a standard
CFUBMSIP [9] Teer Coatings PVD system, with four
targets (one Ti and three MoS2 targets). The coating
procedure starts with an ion cleaning, followed by a 70 nm
Ti layer, a 200 nm MoS2/Ti multilayer, a 900 nm MoS2/
titanium (non-multilayer) and a last step of 50 nm layer of
MoS2 for coloration. Further details about the coating
deposition may be found in Refs. [4,68].
2.2. Physical properties and tribological performance of the
MoS2/titanium coating deposited onto M42 polished 1200
SiC [68]
This MoS2/titanium coating was deposited on M42
polished 1200 SiC steel, and several tribological tests were
performed in order to evaluate this coating performance.
Ball crater technique has been used to measure the
coating thickness, as shown in Fig. 1(a), a thickness of about
1.2 mm was obtained.
Rockwell C indentation (Daimler test) has been
performed to assess qualitative coating adhesion to the
substrate, showing only a plastic deformation as can be
observed in Fig. 1(b).
Hardness, scratch, pin-on-disc (POD) and reciprocating
wear (RWT) tests were performed to assess the tribological
properties of the deposited coating.

The hardness test indicated that the MoS2/titanium

coating had a plastic hardness of HPy1200 kg/mm2 and
the scratch test showed that no failure were found at loads
up to 100 N, as shown in Fig. 2.
POD tests performed at 200 mm/s and 50% r.h. (dry) have
shown low wear and low friction coefficient as indicated in
Table 1. For the highest load (80 N), the friction coefficient is
rather small (0.040.045). Ball craters were performed in the
wear track of the disc to assess the coating thickness after test,
as shown in Fig. 3. The coating wear is evaluated as the
percentage of thickness reduction of coating.
The RWT was carried out using a sliding speed of
150 mm/min under 100 N load at 50% r.h. (dry) and at
room temperature. After 10,000 cycles, only 19% of coating
was worn away (see Fig. 4) with a specific wear rate of
3.1!10K17 m3/mN and a friction coefficient of 0.04.

3. Twin-disc tests
3.1. The twin-disc machine
The twin-disc machine [1012] used in this study allows
operating conditions of pure rolling or rolling and sliding,
different rotating speeds and different contact pressures as
well as jet lubrication at controlled temperature.
3.2. Discs geometry, heat treatment and surface roughness
The discs have a diameter of 70 mm and a thickness of
7 mm. The upper disc, called spherical disc, has

Fig. 1. Ball crater (a) and Rockwell indentation (b) on MoS2/titanium coating.

Fig. 2. Scratch test on MoS2/titanium composite coating.

R.I. Amaro et al. / Tribology International 38 (2005) 423434

Table 1
Results of pin-on-disc tests of MoS2/titanium composite coating
Load (N)

Test time (s)

Coefficient of
friction (/)

Coating wear
(%)

10
40
80

3600
3600
3600

0.090.1
0.070.08
0.040.045

10
21
24

a transversal curvature radius of 105 mm [1012]. The

geometry of the discs is represented in Fig. 5.
The discs are manufactured in case hardened DIN
20MnCr5 steel, heat treated and grinded in order to obtain
the required surface finishing. The surface hardness has a
mean value for all discs of 59HRC. The surface roughness
of each disc was measured in three different locations,
before and after the coating deposition, and the corresponding mean values are shown in Table 2.
The surface roughness is similar before and after coating.
The roughness parameters of the spherical discs show a
slight decrease after coating while those of the cylindrical
discs show a slight increase.
The grinding operation is more difficult in the case of the
discs with transverse curvature (spherical discs), and
consequently they show higher roughness values than the
cylindrical discs. However, the Rpk roughness parameter
shows a very significant reduction after coating, for those
spherical discs, showing that the surface coating may have
important effects on the roughness profile.
3.3. Twin-disc testing conditions
Four pairs of MoS2/titanium coated discs were tested at
constant maximum Hertzian pressure (p0Z1.5 GPa) and
constant rolling speed ((U1CU2)/2Z11 m/s). Each disc
pair was tested at a different slide-to-roll ratio, and the upper
disc was always spherical and the faster one, while the lower
disc was always cylindrical and the slower one. Table 3
presents all the testing conditions.
Theoretically, the specific lubricant film thickness L is
defined as
fT h0

L Z q
R2q1 C R2q2

(1)

425

where fT is lubricant film thickness correction parameter

due to the contact inlet shear heating, h0 is the center film
thickness
according to Dowson and Hamrock [13] and

q
R2q1 C R2q2 is the composite surface roughness of the two
contacting discs.
For each test, the inlet oil temperature was determined so
that the specific lubricant film thickness remains constant in
all tests (LZ0.5). The values of L shown in Table 3 were
calculated
qconsidering the composite surface roughness
R2q1 C R2q2 before the test.
3.4. Twin-disc tests results
3.4.1. Contact track observation by video microscopy
During each test, the contact tracks of both discs were
periodically observed using a video microscope, thus
avoiding the dismounting of the disc pair. These systematic
observations of the contact track of both contacting discs in
all tests showed that the MoS2/titanium coating suffered
mild and progressive wear. Severe adhesive and/or abrasive
wear of the contact tracks as well as catastrophic coatings
failures never occurred. Signs sustaining the need to stop
any of the tests due to coating failure were not detected.
3.4.2. Contact track observation by optical microscopy
At the end of each test the contact tracks of the discs were
observed by optical microscopy and significant images were
recorded. Fig. 6 shows examples of these images, for the
upper fast disc (spherical) and the lower slow disc
(cylindrical) corresponding to tests MoS2/Ti-2 (slide-toroll ratioZ19.6%) and MoS2/Ti-4 (slide-to-roll ratioZ
40.9%).
These observations of the contact tracks of all discs by
optical microscopy show that some small MoS2/titanium
coating particles were pulled out of the surface, originating
small pits in the contact track, although it could not be
verified if their depth was enough to reach the steel
substrate. In some locations the contact track has a blue
color, different from the color of the coating, being difficult
to understand if the MoS2/titanium coating has been
completely worn out or not. In some cases, the MoS2/
titanium coating shows transversal cracks in relation to the
rolling direction.
The optical microscopy analysis was not always
conclusive enough to identify the zones of the contact

Fig. 3. Ball craters in wear tracks after POD test.

426

R.I. Amaro et al. / Tribology International 38 (2005) 423434

Table 2
Surface roughness measurements of the discs before and after coating
deposition

Fig. 4. Ball crater in wear tracks after RWT test.

tracks where the MoS2/titanium coating has been completely worn out.
3.4.3. Surface observations by scanning
electron microscopy
At the end of each test, both discs were observed by
scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) with reflected
primary electrons, at three different locations along the
contact track. In each location five images were taken, in
order to have a global view of the coating degradation
across the contact track.
Figs. 7 and 8 show, for test MoS2/Ti-2 (slide-to-roll
ratioZSRRZ19.6%), these five images across the contact
track for the upper (spherical) and the lower (cylindrical)
discs, respectively.
With these SEM observations and analysis, it was
possible to identify that the dark areas indicate the presence
of the MoS2/titanium coating while the white areas indicate
zones where the coating has been completely worn out.
The five images obtained per disc in each location were
analyzed using Image Analysis Software in order to
measure the values of the coated and uncoated areas. The
uncoated area was divided by the total area under analysis

Fig. 5. Geometry of the contacting discs (dimensions in mm).

Roughness
parameter

After grinding

After coating

Spherical
disc 1

Spherical
disc 1

RZ-DIN
Ra
Rq
Rpk
(Ra1CRa2)/2
q
R2q1 C R2q2

2.550
0.500
0.620
0.420

Cylindrical
disc 2
2.280
0.310
0.400
0.340
0.405
0.738

2.443
0.480
0.600
0.273

Cylindrical
disc 2
2.570
0.332
0.426
0.380
0.406
0.736

(coated plus uncoated areas) defining the percentage of

coating wear (PCW).
In the case of the test MoS2/Ti-2, shown in Figs. 7
and 8, the PCW at the end of the test was 23.5% for the
upper spherical disc and 36.2% for the lower cylindrical
disc.
The average (and also the maximum and minimum)
values of the percentage of coating wear are defined using
the values measured in each one of the three locations
analyzed for each test and are shown in Fig. 9.
The PCW of the cylindrical discs is always smaller
than 50% in all cases, and smaller than 35% for slide-toroll ratios greater than 6.8%. However, the most
interesting feature concerning the cylindrical discs, is
that the percentage of coating wear decreases significantly when the slide-to-roll ratio increases, reaching the
small value of PCWZ18% for a slide-to-roll ratio of
41%.
In the case of the spherical discs the PCW is smaller than
35% for the lower slide-to-roll ratios (SRR%19.6%), but
there is a significant increase of the percentage of coating
wear (PCWR65%) for the higher slide-to-roll ratios
(SRRR28.4%).
The main reason for the different behavior between
the spherical and cylindrical discs, in terms of the PCW
parameter, is probably related to their significant
difference in surface finishing. The surface roughness of
the spherical discs is about 50% greater than that of the
cylindrical discs (RSph:
Z 0:48 mm, RCyl:
a
a Z 0:33 mm) and,
probably, this has an unfavorable effect on coating
adhesion.
The fact that the spherical discs were always used as
the fast discs, might be another possible reason for their
greater coating wear since they are submitted to a greater
number of cycles than the cylindrical discs. On the other
hand, the fast disc heats considerably less than the slower
one.
However, even taking into consideration the different
number of cycles performed by each disc in each test (see
Table 3) the remarks made above are still valid as shown on
Fig. 10, where the percentage of coating wear is related to
the number of cycles.

R.I. Amaro et al. / Tribology International 38 (2005) 423434

427

Table 3
Twin-disc testing conditions
Parameter
Maximum Hertzian pressure (GPa)
Rolling speed (m/s)
Sliding speed (m/s)
Slide-to-roll ratio (%)
Total number of cycles upper disc/103
Total number of cycles lower disc/103
Oil reference
Oil temperature (8C)
Specific lubricant film thickness

Designation
p0
(U1CU2)/2
U1KU2
2jU1KU2j/(U1CU2)
N1
N2
T
L

Disc pair
MoS2/Ti-1

MoS2/Ti-2

MoS2/Ti-3

MoS2/Ti-4

1.511
11.00
0.75
6.8
931
870

1.511
1.511
11.05
11.11
2.17
3.16
19.6
28.4
993
1 038
816
780
ISO VG 22, additive free
89
87
0.5
0.5

1.511
11.24
4.60
40.9
1 108
731

93
0.5

83
0.5

4. FZG gear tests

4.2. Physical properties of the lubricant

4.1. Test rig and FZG-type C gears

All tests were performed using an ISO VG 100 mineral

oil without extreme-pressure (EP) and anti-wear (AW)
additives. The physical properties of the lubricant are
presented in Table 4. During the tests, the oil was kept at a
constant temperature of 90 8C.

The gear tests were performed on a FZG machine [14]

using FZG-type C gears, whose characteristics are given in
Table 4.
Three different gears were tested:

4.3. Gear testing conditions

1. N-CTUncoated gear with high-surface roughness
(RaZ2.4 mm);
2. CTMoS2/titanium coated gear with high-surface
roughness (RaZ2.4 mm);
3. CT*MoS2/titanium coated gear with very low surface
roughness (RaZ0.4 mm).

Before each test the gears were run-in during 4 h in

FZG load stage 6 (wheel torqueTwheelZ203 Nm) at
1500 rpm with the purpose of softening the surface
roughness of the teeth flanks, mainly for N-CT and CT
gears.

Fig. 6. Images of the contact track from the spherical and cylindrical discs used in tests MoS2/Ti-2 and MoS2/Ti-4 (rolling directionleft to right).

428

R.I. Amaro et al. / Tribology International 38 (2005) 423434

Fig. 7. View of the contact track for the spherical disc MoS2/Ti-2: slide-to-roll ratioZ19.6%, uncoated areaZ23.5%, total widthZ3 mm (50!).

Fig. 8. View of the contact track for the cylindrical disc MoS2/Ti-2: slide-to-roll ratioZ19.6%, uncoated areaZ36.2%, total widthZ3 mm (50!).

After running-in, all gear tests started on FZG load

stage 7 (TwheelZ275 Nm). The torque is progressively
increased until FZG load stage 12 (TwheelZ801 Nm) (or 13,
TwheelZ940 Nm) or until any type of surface failure of the
teeth flanks is detected. The duration of each load stage is
15 min, during which both the speed and the lubricant
temperature are kept constant. At the end of each load stage,
the teeth flanks are visually inspected looking for surface
failures, in particular scuffing and excessive wear.
For each type of gear (N-CT, CT and CT*) the test
procedure was performed at two different speeds, 1500 and
3000 rpm, respectively.

The tribological operating conditions of the contact

between the teeth flanks are extremely severe, as the torque
increases from load stages 7 to 13. At the wheel tip/pinion
root contact point, the maximum Hertzian pressure increases
from 1.13 to 2.08 GPa, while the lubricant film thickness,
although remaining almost constant with load, is very thin,
0.15 and 0.20 mm, at 1500 and 3000 rpm, respectively.

Fig. 9. Average, maximum and minimum values of the percentage of

uncoated area vs. slide-to-roll ratio in twin-disc tests with MoS2/titanium
coated surfaces.

Fig. 10. Average, maximum and minimum values of the percentage of

coating wear per cycle vs. slide-to-roll ratio in twin-disc tests with
MoS2/titanium coated surfaces.

4.4. Gear tests results

The influence of the surface coating on the gears
performance is very significant, as shown on Fig. 11.

R.I. Amaro et al. / Tribology International 38 (2005) 423434

Table 4
Characteristics of the FZG-type C gears and physical properties of the
lubricant
Parameters (units)

Designation

Pinion

Number of teeth ()
Tooth width (mm)
Module (mm)
Pressure angle (8)
Profile shift factor (/)
Tip circle (mm)
Center distance (mm)
Working pressure angle (8)
Contact ratio (/)
Material
Heat treatment

Z
b
m
a
x
da
aW
aW
3
/

16

0.182
82.45

Ra

0.405

Surface hardness
Surface roughness in teeth
flanks (NC2.4 and C2.4) (mm)
Surface roughness in teeth
flanks (C0.4) (mm)
Oil type
Cinematic viscosity at 40 8C
(mm2/s)
Cinematic viscosity at 100 8C
(mm2/s)
Specific gravity at 15 8C ()
Viscosity index ()
Oil operating temperature (8C)

Wheel
24
14
4.5
20
0.171
118.35

91.5
22.5
1.47
DIN 20MnCr5
Case hardened, quenching and
annealing
HRC
5862
Ra
2.388
2.396
0.420

ISO VG 100 mineral oil, addictive free

n0
100.0
n1
Sp Gr
VI
T

11.1
0.891
95
90G2

At 1500 rpm, the scuffing load stage of the uncoated

N-CT
Z 11 (TwheelZ675 Nm), while the coated
gear is KFZG
CT
CT
O 12 and KFZG
O 13.
gears did not reach scuffing: KFZG
At this speed, the improvement in scuffing resistance is
at least of two FZG load stages for the gears coated with
MoS2/titanium.

429

At 3000 rpm, the scuffing load stage of the uncoated gear

N-CT
Z 7, the coated gear with high-surface roughness
is KFZG
CT
Z 12, while the coated
reached scuffing in load stage KFZG
gear with very good surface finishing overcome load stage
CT
KFZG
O 12. At 3000 rpm, the MoS2/titanium coating
improves the scuffing resistance by five FZG load stages,
which is a very significant result.
The differences occurred in the scuffing load stages also
represent very significant differences in the power transmitted by the FZG-type C gear, as shown in Fig. 12.
At 1500 rpm, the coated gear CT transmits 40% more
power than the uncoated gear N-CT. At 3000 rpm, the coated
gear with very good surface finishing CT* transmits, at least,
17% more power than the coated gear CT, and this one
transmits 77% more power than the non-coated gear N-CT.
The teeth flanks of the pinion and wheel of each gear
were examined at the end of the tests in order to assess the
scuffing severity (if occurred), the surface wear and the
existence of other types of surface failures. Images of those
flank surfaces were made and are shown in Fig. 13 for the
tests performed at 3000 rpm.
The scuffing failure always occurred at the wheel
tip/pinion root contact point on the meshing line of the
FZG-type C gear. This was case for the uncoated gear N-CT
at 1500 and 3000 rpm and for the coated gear CT at
3000 rpm, as shown on Fig. 13. Besides the scuffing marks,
the gear flanks also presented severe wear all over the
surface.
Its normal that scuffing always occurred at the wheel
tip/pinion root contact point of the gear meshing line, since
at that point the product m$p$v reaches its highest value, as
shown on Fig. 14 (m$p$vZfriction coefficient!Hertzian
pressure!sliding velocity).

Fig. 11. Scuffing (or maximum) load stage at 1500 and 3000 rpm gear tests (FZG-type C gears lubricated with additive free ISO VG 100 mineral oil at 90 8C).

430

R.I. Amaro et al. / Tribology International 38 (2005) 423434

Fig. 12. Power transmitted by the FZG-type C gear at the scuffing load stage or at the end of the test (additive free ISO VG 100 mineral oil at 90 8C).

Fig. 13. Images of the teeth flanks at the end of the tests performed at 3000 rpm.

R.I. Amaro et al. / Tribology International 38 (2005) 423434

431

5. Tests with a transfer gearbox

5.1. Gearbox test rig

Fig. 14. Variation of the maximum Hertzian pressure, slide-to-roll ratio

and lubricant film thickness along the gear meshing line. (KFZGZ12,
nZ1500 rpm, contact point between wheel tip/pinion root).

The transfer gearbox tests were performed in a back-toback test rig with re-circulating power. Thus, the driving
electrical motor only supplies the power needed to overcome inertia, frictional and churning losses and to reach and
maintain the desired operating speed. This test rig was
developed to allow the testing of different types of
gearboxes.
The torque is applied with a hydraulic cylinder connected
to a helical gear. When the hydraulic cylinder moves
forward the helix angle of the helical gear twists the
connecting gears and applies the desired torque.
5.2. Transfer gearbox
Fig. 15 shows a cross section of the two speeds gearbox
used in this study. It is used as a transfer gearbox, mounted
after the conventional gearbox of the vehicle, allowing the
vehicle to have two drive axles (four wheel drive) and an
auxiliary power output [15].
This transfer gearbox uses five gears mounted in three
shafts employing gibs. The gears mounted on the input and
output shafts are supported by needle roller bearings. The
gears are manufactured with DIN 15CrNi6 steel. After
machining, the gears are case hardened, quenched in oil and
annealed. The geometric characteristics of the gears are
given in Table 5.
The gearbox is lubricated with mineral base industrial
gear oil, with a viscosity grade ISO VG 150 and containing
EP and AW additives. The transfer gearbox is filled up with
2.85 L of lubricant oil, as recommended by the gearbox
manufacturer. The most significant properties of the
lubricant are given in Table 5.

Fig. 15. Cross-section of the two speeds transfer gearbox.

Table 5
Geometric characteristics of the transfer gearbox gears and lubricant physical properties
Parameter (units)
Module (mm)
Number of teeth (/)
Profile shift factor (/)
Width (mm)
Pressure angle (8)
Helix angle (8)
Max. addendum diameter (mm)
Oil type
Cinematic viscosity at 40 8C (mm2/s)
Cinematic viscosity at 100 8C (mm2/s)
Specific gravity at 15 8C ()
Viscosity index ()
FZG rating

Design
m
Z
x
b
a
b
da

max

n0
n1
Sp Gr
VI
KFZG

Gear wheel no.

1

4
17
0.051
35
20
20
80.7

4
3.5
28
27
K0.24
0.161
33.5
35
20
20
20
20
125.2
108.4
ISO VG 150 mineral oil
150
14.5
0.896
95

12O

3.5
23
0.415
35
20
20
95.3

3.5
32
0.381
35
20
20
128.6

432

R.I. Amaro et al. / Tribology International 38 (2005) 423434

Table 6
Operating conditions of the transfer gearbox with MoS2/titanium coated gears
Parameter

Design

Input speed to transfer gearbox

(rpm)
Vehicle speed (km/h)
Input torque
Py36 kW
Py72 kW
(Nm)

n
V
Tin
Tin

Stages
573
5.7
600
1200

5.3. Transfer gearbox testing

Before each test the transfer gearbox is submitted to a
running-in period of 5.4 h (0.53 millions cycles), during
which the input power is softly increased from 7.5 to 41 kW.
In the end of the running-in period, the lubricating oil is
changed.
The transfer gearbox was tested in the lower speed range,
when it is used as a torque multiplier, considering realistic
operating conditions in terms of input speed and torque. The
testing programme is defined in Table 6 and the operating
conditions are related to the characteristics of the vehicle
using this transfer gearbox (power and torque of the diesel
engine and gear ratios of the main gearbox). The test time is
120 min.
The oil temperature when the test starts is 40 8C. The oil
temperature is measured during the test and depends on the
operating conditions in each stage. The test is stopped if the
lubricant temperature exceeds 120 8C.
5.4. Efficiency of the transfer gearbox
The gearbox tested has MoS2/titanium coated gears and
its efficiency is calculated for the input conditions of torque
and speed mentioned in Table 6.
The efficiency results presented in Figs. 16 and 17 are
compared with previous data obtained with the same
gearbox using uncoated gears [15,16]. In both cases, the
operating conditions are very similar and the oil temperature
is in the range between 60 and 70 8C.
For an input power of 36 kW, the maximum efficiency
is obtained between 1400 and 2400 rpm, for both
gearboxes, coated and uncoated. However, in all the
speed range considered (7002300 rpm) the efficiency of
the gearbox with coated gears is always better in about
0.5%, resulting from the reduction of the friction losses
between the gear teeth due to the action of the
MoS2/titanium coating.
For an input power of 72 kW both gearboxes, with coated
and uncoated gears, show the same efficiency between 2300
and 3800 rpm. For these high speeds and low torques, the
lubricant film thickness between the gear teeth is higher and
the corresponding contact pressure and friction smaller. On
the other hand, the churning losses become much more
important than the friction losses and thus the efficiency of
both gearboxes is very similar.

1376
13.6
250
500

2178
21.5
160
320

2981
29.4
120
240

3784
37.4
90
180

However, for the low input speeds and higher torques,

the importance of the friction losses raise again and
the efficiency of the gearbox with coated gears are again
better than that obtained with uncoated gears in about
0.5%.
Fig. 18 shows the active flanks of wheel no. 4 (see
Fig. 15) of both gearboxes, coated and uncoated. The
analysis of those surfaces shows that they are in perfect state
exhibiting small mild wear.

6. Results discussion
6.1. Screening tests
The set of results of the screening tests (Rockwell C
indentations, POD and RWT) confirms the excellent
adhesion between the MoS2/titanium coating and the steel
substrate, as well as, his interesting tribological properties,
in particular his low friction coefficient.
6.2. Twin-disc tests
The twin-disc tests show that the performance of the
MoS2/titanium composite coating is in general quite good.
The results obtained both for the spherical and cylindrical

Fig. 16. Efficiency of the transfer gearbox at constant input power (36 kW).
Influence of the MoS2/titanium surface coating.

R.I. Amaro et al. / Tribology International 38 (2005) 423434

433

contact pressures, slide-to-roll ratios and specific lubricant

film thickness, giving very good indications about the
successful application of these coatings in gear sets.
6.3. FZG gear tests

Fig. 17. Efficiency of the transfer gearbox at constant input power (72 kW).
Influence of the MoS2/titanium surface coating.

discs, confirm the excellent adhesion of this coating to the

substrate, already shown by the screening tests mentioned
before. They also indicate that the MoS2/titanium coating
has high resistance to sliding at low specific film thickness
and high-Hertzian contact pressure (LZ0.5, p0Z1.5 GPa).
The most significant type of coating degradation is the
progressive wear of the coating, which happened in all tests.
In some cases it was also possible to detect small pits due to
the extraction of small coating particles from the surface and
the occurrence of transversal cracks of the coating.
Thus, the MoS2/titanium coating was able to support the
severity of the tribological operating conditions imposed by
the twin-disc tests, similar to those found in gears in terms of

The improvement in scuffing resistance promoted by

the MoS2/titanium coating at 1500 rpm is greater than
two load stages. Joachim et al. [3] obtained a similar
improvement in scuffing resistance (2 FZG load stages)
in standard FZG scuffing tests A/8,3/90 lubricated with
Mobil Jet Oil II, between uncoated and coated gears,
using WC/C (tungsten carbon carbide) and B4C (boron
carbide) coatings. Weck et al. [2] also obtained an
improvement in scuffing resistance (1 FZG load stage) in
standard FZG scuffing tests A/8,3/90 lubricated with
COE 100 base oil, between uncoated and coated gears,
using WC/C (tungsten carbon carbide) coating. They also
noticed a considerable decrease in the wear of the teeth
flanks.
The results obtained for the coated gears, CT and CT*,
also indicate that the quality of the surface finishing of the
teeth flanks has some influence on the scuffing resistance,
improving it by at least 1 FZG load stage. Joachim et al. [3]
also obtained a similar improvement in scuffing resistance
(1 FZG load stage) in standard FZG scuffing tests A/8,3/90
lubricated with Mobil Jet Oil II, between the usual and
super-finished uncoated FZG gears. They noticed that the
influence of the surface coating on scuffing resistance is
more important than the influence of surface superfinishing.
These scuffing results are directly related to the low
friction coefficient of the MoS2/titanium coating which

Fig. 18. Teeth flanks after test.

434

R.I. Amaro et al. / Tribology International 38 (2005) 423434

originates lower contact temperatures between the gear

teeth and thus a higher scuffing load carrying capacity.
The MoS2/titanium coated gears CT* exhibit a very good
performance (slightly better than CT, but significantly
superior than N-CT) in all situations, without the occurrence
CT
CT
of scuffing (KFZG
O 13 at 1500 rpm and KFZG
O 12 at
3000 rpm) and the teeth flanks showed a normal and
reduced amount of wear, as can be observed in Fig. 13.
The surface roughness measurements made after test
confirmed this observation, showing a very smooth surface
(RZ-DINz1.9 mm) in both flanks of the pinion and of the
wheel.
6.4. Gearbox tests
The results accomplished by the MoS2/titanium coated
transfer gearbox clearly show that at low speed and high
torque, when the contact pressure and friction between the
gear teeth are important and the lubricant film thickness is
reduced, the friction losses became much more important
than the churning losses and the influence of the MoS2/
titanium coating turn out to be fundamental for improving
the efficiency of the gearbox.

7. Conclusions
The MoS2/titanium coating shows a very good tribological performance, confirmed by the results of all tests
made, such as, POD, twin-disc machine, FZG scuffing tests
and transfer gearbox efficiency tests. The MoS2/titanium
coating shows the following characteristics:
1. High-plastic hardness (HPy1200 kg/mm2) and low
friction coefficient (0.040.045).
2. Very thin coating film (1.2 mm) almost not affecting the
surface roughness of the substrate.
3. Excellent adhesion to the steel substrate at high-contact
pressure, high-slide-to-roll ratio and low specific lubricant film thickness.
4. Very significant increase of the load carrying capacity of
FZG-type C gears against scuffing-2 FZG load stages at
1500 rpm (plus 40% of transmitted power) and 5 FZG
stages at 3000 rpm (plus 77% of transmitted power).
5. Improvement of gearbox efficiency in about 0.5% at high
torque and low speed when the friction losses between
the gear teeth are most significant.
These characteristics shown that the MoS2/titanium
coating is of great interest at least in two particular cases:
< Severe applications involving high-contact pressures
and high sliding, frequent start-ups, or deficient
lubrication.

< Acting as tribo-reactive materials and substituting nonbiodegradable and toxic additives in environmental
friendly lubricants.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the European Commission for the financial support given to this study thought the
project Reduction of fluid lubricant use in heavily loaded
motion transmission systems through the application of
sel-lubricating coatings. Project no. BE-S2-5389, Contract
no. BRST-CT97-5363, 19982000.

References
[1] Holmberg K, Mathews A, Ronkainem H. Friction and wear
mechanisms of coated surfaces. Finnish J Tribol 1998.
[2] Weck M, Hurasky-Schonwerth O, Bugiel Ch. Service behaviour of
PVD-coated gearing lubricated with biodegradable synthetic Ester
oils. VDI-Berichte 2002.
[3] Joachim F, Kurz N, Glatthaar B. Influence of coatings and surface
improvements on the lifetime of gears. VDI-Berichte 2002.
[4] Teer D, Hampshire J, Bellido V. EU Patent No. 96924987.9.
[5] Su Y, Kao W. Tribological behaviour and wear mechanism of MoS2
Cr coatings sling against various counterbody. Tribol Int 2003.
[6] Renevier N, Lobiondo N, Fox V, Teer D, Hampshire J. Performance
of MoS2/metal composite coatings used for dry machining and other
applications. Surf Coatings Technol 2000.
[7] Renevier N, Fox V, Teer D, Hampshire J. Hard lubricating coatings
for cutting and forming tools and mechanical components. Surf
Coatings Technol 2000.
[8] Renevier N, Fox V, Hampshire J, Teer D. Performance of low friction
MoS2/titanium composite coatings used in forming applications.
Mater Des 2000.
[9] Teer D. UK Patent No. GB 2 258 343, EU Patent No. 0 521 045, USA
Patent No. 5 554 518.
[10] Magalhaes L, Seabra J. Reduction of the film lubricant use in heavy
loaded motion transmission through the application of self-lubricated
coatings. Technical Report T01, CRAFT Project BE-S2-5389; 1999.
[11] Amaro R, Seabra J. Reduction of the film lubricant use in heavy
loaded motion transmission through the application of self-lubricated
coatings. Technical Report T02, CRAFT Project BE-S2-5389; 1999
[12] Amaro R. Comportamento tribologico de revestimentos autolubrificantes para engrenagens. Master of Science Thesis, DEMEGI,
FEUP; 2000 [in Portuguese].
[13] Dowson D, Hamrock G. Ball bearing lubricationthe elastohydrodinamics of elliptical contacts. New York: Wiley/Interscience; 1981.
[14] Winter H, Michaelis K. FZG gear test rigdescription and
possibilities. In: Coordinate European council second international
symposium on the performance evaluation of automotive fuels and
lubricants; 1985.
[15] Martins R. Avaliacao experimental do desempenho energetico de uma
caixa transfer para veculos de traccao integral. Master of Science
Thesis, DEMEGI, FEUP; 2002 [in Portuguese].
[16] Amaro R, Martins R, Seabra J, Brito A. MoST low friction coating for
gears application. GEARS 2003Gears and Transmissions Workshop; 2003.