Sliding wear investigation of suspension sprayed WC-Co nanocomposite coatings.

Sliding wear evaluation of nanostructured coatings deposited by Suspension High Velocity Oxy-Fuel (S-HVOF) and conventional HVOF (Jet Kote (HVOF-JK) and JP5000 (HVOF-JP)) spraying were evaluated. S-HVOF coatings were nanostructured and deposited via an aqueous based suspension of the WC-Co powder, using modified HVOF (TopGun) spraying. Microstructural evaluations of these hardmetal coatings included X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) equipped with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX). Sliding wear tests on coatings were conducted using a ball-on-flat test rig against steel, silicon nitride (Si3N4) ceramic and WC-6Co balls. Results indicated that nanosized particles inherited from the starting powder in S-HVOF spraying were retained in the resulting coatings. Significant changes in the chemical and phase composition were observed in the S-HVOF coatings. Despite decarburization, the hardness and sliding wear resistance of the S-HVOF coatings was comparable to the HVOF-JK and HVOF-JP coatings. The sliding wear performance was dependent on the ball-coating test couple. In general a higher ball wear rate was observed with lower coating wear rate. Comparison of the total (ball and coating) wear rate indicated that for steel and ceramic balls, HVOF-JP coatings performed the best followed by the S-HVOF and HVOF-JK coatings. For the WC-Co ball tests, average performance of S-HVOF was better than that of HVOF-JK and HVOF-JP coatings. Changes in sliding wear behavior were attributed to the support of metal matrix due to relatively higher tungsten content, and uniform distribution of nanoparticles in the S-HVOF coating microstructure. The presence of tribofilm was also observed for all test couples

Comparison of wear performance of thermal sprayed cermet (WC-Co) coatings from suspension and feedstock powders.

WC-Co coatings were deposited using conventional High Velocity Oxy-Fuel Jet-Kote (HVOF-JK) and Suspension HVOF (S-HVOF) methods. Microstructural and mechanical properties along with the wear resistance of coatings were investigated. Reciprocating sliding wear tests were conducted against sintered Si3N4 counter-body with a normal load of 25N and total sliding distance of 500m following ASTM G133-2 standard. Coatings were characterised by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and nano-Indentation techniques. HVOF-JK coating showed good retention of WC whereas S-HVOF coating showed the presence of W, W2C and amorphous/nanocrystalline phases. Nano-indentation of HVOF-JK and S-HVOF showed that the relative hardness of the HVOF-JK coating was higher but their elastic modulus was lower. The lower total wear rate was exhibited by the HVOF-JK coating. This difference in wear performance is attributed to the difference in hardness of the coatings and decarburisation of WC particles