Low-friction surface coatings and methods for producing same

1. A coated article system, comprising:

a substrate; and

a surface coating on said substrate formed by depositing individual particles of a composite metal powder on said substrate so that said composite metal powder bonds with said substrate, said composite metal powder comprising a substantially homogeneous dispersion of molybdenum and molybdenum disulfide sub-particles that are fused together to form the individual particles of said composite metal powder, said surface coating comprising from about 3 weight percent to about 10 weight percent molybdenum disulfide.

2. The coated article system of claim 1 , wherein said surface coating comprises at least about 1 weight percent sulfur.

3. The coated article system of claim 2 , wherein said surface coating comprises from about 1 weight percent to about 4 weight percent sulfur.

4. The coated article system of claim 1 , wherein said surface coating comprises a friction coefficient in a range of from about 0.46 to about 0.68.

5. The coated article system of claim 1 , wherein said surface coating comprises an as-deposited average surface roughness (R a ) in a range of about 2.54 μm (about 100 μin) to about 22.9 μm (about 900 μin).

6. The coated article system of claim 1 wherein said composite metal powder comprises supplemental metal and wherein said surface coating comprises said supplemental metal.

7. The coated article system of claim 6 , wherein said supplemental metal comprises one or more selected from the group consisting essentially of nickel and nickel alloy.

8. The coated article system of claim 6 , wherein said supplemental metal comprises a nickel alloy.

9. The coated article system of claim 8 , wherein said surface coating comprises a friction coefficient in a range of about 0.4 to about 0.44.

10. The coated article system of claim 1 , wherein said surface coating comprises a thickness of at least about 0.15 mm (about 0.006 in).

11. The coated article system of claim 10 , wherein said surface coating comprises a thickness in a range of about 0.15 mm (about 0.006 in) to about 2 mm (about 0.08 in).

12. The coated article system of claim 1 , wherein said substrate comprises a metal.

13. The coated article system of claim 12 , wherein said metal substrate comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of aluminum, aluminum alloys, iron, iron alloys, steel, stainless steel, molybdenum, molybdenum alloys, bronze, and brass.

14. A coated article system, comprising:

a substrate; and

a surface coating on said substrate, said surface coating comprising a substantially homogeneous dispersion of molybdenum and molybdenum disulfide particles bonded to said substrate to form said surface coating, said surface coating comprising from about 3 weight percent to about 10 weight percent molybdenum disulfide.

15. A surface coating comprising a composite metal powder deposited with sufficient energy to cause said composite metal powder to bond with a substrate and form said surface coating, said composite metal powder comprising a substantially homogeneous dispersion of molybdenum and molybdenum disulfide sub-particles that are fused together to form individual particles, said surface coating comprising from about 3 weight percent to about 10 weight percent molybdenum disulfide.

16. A surface coating comprising a composite metal powder comprising a substantially homogeneous dispersion of molybdenum and molybdenum disulfide sub-particles that are fused together to form individual particles of said composite metal powder, said composite metal powder deposited with sufficient energy to cause the individual particles of said composite metal powder to bond with a substrate while in a plastic state to form said surface coating, said surface coating comprising from about 3 weight percent to about 10 weight percent molybdenum disulfide.

17. A method for producing a surface coating,

comprising:

providing a composite metal powder comprising a substantially homogeneous dispersion of molybdenum and molybdenum disulfide sub-particles that are fused together to form individual particles of said composite metal powder; and

depositing said molybdenum/molybdenum disulfide composite metal powder on a substrate to form the surface coating, said composite metal powder bonding to said substrate, said surface coating comprising from about 3 weight percent to about 10 weight percent molybdenum disulfide.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein said depositing comprises spraying said molybdenum/molybdenum disulfide composite metal powder with sufficient energy to cause said molybdenum/molybdenum disulfide composite metal powder to bond to the substrate while in a plastic state to form the surface coating.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein said spraying comprises thermal spray deposition.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein said spraying comprises plasma spray deposition.

21. The method of claim 18 , wherein said spraying comprises HVOF spray deposition.

22. The method of claim 17 , wherein said surface coating is deposited to a thickness of at least about 0.15 mm (about 0.006 in).

23. The method of claim 17 , further comprising finish-smoothing said surface coating so that said surface coating has a uniform thickness.

24. The method of claim 17 , further comprising sintering said surface coating.

25. The method of claim 17 , wherein providing a supply of composite metal powder comprises:

providing a supply of molybdenum metal powder;

providing a supply of molybdenum disulfide powder;

combining said molybdenum metal powder and said molybdenum disulfide powder with a liquid to form a slurry;

feeding said slurry into a stream of hot gas; and

recovering the composite metal powder.

26. The method of claim 25 , further comprising:

providing a supply of a nickel metal powder; and

combining said nickel metal powder with either of said molybdenum metal powder and said molybdenum disulfide powder before combining with a liquid to form a slurry.

27. The method of claim 25 , further comprising:

providing a supply of a nickel metal powder; and

combining said nickel metal powder with said slurry before feeding said slurry into a stream of hot gas.

28. The method of claim 25 , further comprising:

providing a supply of a nickel metal powder; and

combining said nickel metal powder with the composite metal powder to form a powder blend.

29. The method of claim 25 , wherein feeding said slurry into a stream of hot gas comprises atomizing said slurry and contacting said atomized slurry with the stream of hot gas.

30. The method of claim 25 , wherein combining said molybdenum metal powder and said molybdenum disulfide powder with a liquid comprises combining said molybdenum metal powder and said molybdenum disulfide powder with water to form a slurry.

31. The method of claim 25 , wherein said slurry comprises between about 15% to about 50% by weight liquid.

32. The method of claim 25 , further comprising:

providing a supply of a binder material; and

combining said binder material with said molybdenum metal powder, said molybdenum disulfide powder, and said water to form a slurry.

33. The method of claim 32 , wherein said binder comprises polyvinyl alcohol.

34. The method of claim 25 , wherein said supply of molybdenum disulfide powder is added to said supply of molybdenum metal powder in amounts ranging from about 1% by weight to about 50% by weight before combining said supply of molybdenum metal powder and said supply of molybdenum disulfide with said liquid to form said slurry.