Simulation on Mechanical Properties of Tungsten Carbide Thin Films Using Monte Carlo Model

The aim of this paper is to study the mechanical behavior of a system composed by substrate-coating using simulation methods. The contact stresses and the elastic deformation were analyzed by applying a normal load to the surface of the system consisting of a tungsten carbide (WC) thin film, which is used as a wear resistant material and a stainless steel substrate. The analysis is based on Monte Carlo simulations using the Metropolis algorithm. The phenomenon was simulated from a fcc face-centered crystalline structure, for both, the coating and the substrate, assuming that the uniaxial strain is taken in the z-axis. Results were obtained for different values of normal applied load to the surface of the coating, obtaining the Strain-stress curves. From this curve, the Young′s modulus was obtained with a value of 600 Gpa, similar to the reports.