Influence of Calf Serum on Fretting Behaviors of Ti–6Al–4V and Diamond-Like Carbon Coating for Neck Adapter–Femoral Stem Contact

Influences of newborn calf serum on the fretting behaviors of Ti–6Al–4V and diamond-like carbon coating were investigated using a fretting-wear test rig with a cylinder-on-flat contact. The results indicated that, for the Ti–6Al–4V/Ti–6Al–4V contact, the friction coefficients were high (0.8–1.2) and the wear volumes presented an increase with the increase in the displacement amplitude under dry laboratory air conditions. Under serum-liquid conditions, the Ti–6Al–4V/Ti–6Al–4V contact presented significantly larger wear volumes under the displacement of ± 40 µm; however, it presented significantly lower friction coefficients (0.25–0.35) and significantly smaller wear volumes under the displacement of ± 70 µm. For the DLC coating/Ti–6Al–4V contact, the coating response wear maps could be divided into two areas: the coating working area (low normal force conditions) and the coating failure area (high normal force conditions). In the coating working area, the DLC coating could protect the substrate with low friction, low wear volume, and mild damage in the coating. The presence of serum had a positive influence on the tribological performance of the DLC coating. Furthermore, the positive influence was more significant under larger displacement amplitudes condition.