9610440 Keer The purpose of this study is to develop the experimental techniques and predictive theoretical understanding needed to engineer coatings that are optimized for use on basic mechanical components such as bearings and gears. The first step of the study is to engineer equiaxed coatings which are expected to have better in-plane strength than the current columnar structure. The proposed processing technique involves renucleation of coating layers and/or high current, low energy ion bombardment. The mechanical and physical properties of these coatings and their contact fatigue resistance will be determined and correlated with microstructure. Theoretical models will be developed to account for the correlations and to generalize them. ***
