In this study, hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) films were deposited on steel rods of various radii by using bipolar-type plasma based ion implantation and deposition, and the film structure and mechanical properties have been investigated. Furthermore, the behavior of plasma surrounding the steel rods (i.e., flux and energy of incident ions and electrons) was investigated using the particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision (PIC-MCC) method to examine the mechanism behind the structural changes of the a-C:H films. Three kinds of amorphous carbon films with different microstructures were prepared by changing the negative pulse voltages from 1 kV to 5 kV: one polymer-like carbon film and two diamond-like carbon films that possess the maximum FWHM(G) (full width at half maximum of Raman G-peak) and maximum hardness. The structure of the a-C:H films was evaluated through Raman spectroscopy, and the hardness of the films was measured using nanoindentation. It was found that the structures of a-C:H films deposited on the steel-rod surfaces are quite different from those on flat surfaces, and the film structures are directly affected by the curvature of the rod. It was also determined from the plasma simulation that the incident electron flux and ion flux become more intense as the curvature increases, resulting in the structural changes of the a-C:H films due to hydrogen evolution and thermal relaxation in the films. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.