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DLC (Diamond Like Carbon) is a category or classification for a specific family of thin-film coatings.This group of coatings is typically used on critical wear components to drastically improve durability,decrease friction and improve the general function of certain components; extrusion tooling, gears,weapon components, actuators, etc.
What is DLC exactly?
DLC (Diamond Like Carbon) is a category or classification for a specific family of thin-film coatings.This group of coatings is typically used on critical wear components to drastically improve durability,decrease friction and improve the general function of certain components; extrusion tooling, gears,weapon components, actuators, etc.
So is DLC the same no matter the vendor?
There may be similarities in DLC from one vendor to another, but they are often far from the same.DLC coating is analogous use to buying cakes from different bakers. If you buy a cake from 5different bakers, will they all taste the same? No. Each baker has their own unique recipe andmethod for making the cake, but all are still categorized as a cake; some taste better than others….So, when a company offers a DLC coating it means that they have their own unique recipe. Itsimportant to ask a rep about specific use cases that have a proven track record or not, but remember,not all cakes are made equally.
How does one “bake” a DLC coating?
DLC can be achieved through different methods including PVD (physical vapor deposition), CVD(chemical vapor deposition) etc. UPT uses a Plasma enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition Process(PeCVD). One of the benefits of this unique, “hybrid”, process is that we achieve a DLC throughlower than average processing temperatures, 350 F, which is good news for a lot of materials that have lower annealing temperatures.
Technical graph showing how DLC is categorized.
All this graph means is that DLC must have a certain amount of Sp2, Sp3 and H bonds. I prefer the“cake” approach to understanding this.