Cr2C3–NiCr VPS thermal spray coatings as candidate for chromium replacement

The present investigation has been carried out with the aim of determining the tribological behavior of a VPS chromium carbide coating both in the as-deposited and heat-treated conditions. A commercial powder of Cr2C3–25% NiCr was sprayed employing a VPS system (Medicoat AG, Switzerland) onto plain low carbon steel coupons. The samples were subsequently annealed for 2 h at 600 °C, 800 °C and 900 °C in Ar. The microstructural characterization was carried out by using SEM and XRD before and after the heat treatment of the samples. SEM observations were employed for determining the degradation mechanisms that took place during the wear tests. When the coated systems rubbed against alumina under a 5 N normal load in air, a progressive change in the mechanism, from a mixed adhesive and abrasive, to a predominant abrasive was observed, as the heat treatment temperature increased. The wear constants were found to be of the order of approximately 10− 6 mm3/N.m, which indicates a wear resistance of nearly 4 times higher in comparison with the wear results reported in the literature for similar coating systems obtained by employing HVOF deposition. However, the heat treatment carried out at 900 °C brought about only 20% increase in the sliding wear resistance of the coated system

Analysis of indentation size effect in copper and its alloys

For describing the indentation size effect (ISE), numerous models, which relate the load or hardness to the indent dimensions, have been proposed. Unfortunately, it is still difficult to associate the different parameters involved in such relationships with physical or mechanical properties of the material. This is an unsolved problem since the ISE can be associated with various causes such as workhardening, roughness, piling-up, sinking-in, indenter tip geometry, surface energy, varying composition and crystal anisotropy. For interpreting the change in hardness with indent size, an original approach is proposed on the basis of composite hardness modelling together with the use of a simple model, which allows the determination of the hardness–depth profile. Applied to copper and copper alloys, it is shown that it is possible to determine the maximum hardness value reached at the outer surface of the material and the distance over which both the ISE and the workhardening take place

A contact area function for Berkovich nanoindentation : Application to hardness determination of a TiHfCN thin film

In nanoindentation, especially at very low indenter displacements, the indenter/material contact area must be defined in the best possible way in order to accurately determine the mechanical properties of the material. One of the best methodologies for the computation of the contact area has been proposed by Oliver and Pharr [W.C.Oliver, G.M.Pharr, J.Mater. Res. 7 (1992) 1564], which involves a complex phenomenological area function. Unfortunately, this formulation is only valid when the continuous stiffness measurement mode is employed. For other conditions of indentation, different contact area functions, which take into account the effective truncation length or the radius of the rounded indentertip, as well as some fitting parameters, have been proposed. However, most of these functions require a calibration procedure due to the presence of such parameters. To avoid such a calibration, in the present communication a contact area function only related to the truncation length representative of the indenter tip defect, which can be previously estimated with high resolution microscopy, has been proposed. This model allows the determination of consistent indentation data from indenter displacements of only few nanometers indepth. When this proposed contact area function is applied to the mechanical characterization of a TiHfCN film of 2.6 μm in thickness deposited onto a tool steel substrate, the direct determination of the hardness and elastic modulus of the film leads to values of 35.5±2 GPa and 490±50 GPa, respectively

Sliding wear of a-C:H coatings against alumina in corrosive media

This paper reports the results obtained from the study of friction and sliding wear in two corrosive solutions of an a-C:H coating deposited on 316L stainless against an alumina ball, employed as static counter part. Calculations of the values of the von Mises stresses developed at the coating–substrate interface, as soon as the ball touches the coated sample, and how this state of stress influences the response of the coated system under the corrosion environment, are presented and discussed. The results obtained from these calculations, as well as from the experiments conducted in the present research, are compared with other experiments published in the literature, where a-C:H coatings deposited on different substrates and with different coating architectures were tested in similar corrosive media. It has been determined that in those systems, where the von Mises stress in the coating, found in the vicinity of the interface, exceeds the threshold value of approximately 370MPa, coating failure with spallation will take place, regardless of the substrate nature on which this coating has been deposited. From this analysis it has been concluded that the coating yield strength is of utmost importance in conferring the a-C:H coated system there quired stability in a corrosive solution

Effect of O2 increase on properties of vanadium oxide coatings

The present research was carried out with the aim of studying the influence of oxygen concentration during processing on the properties of the VOx coatings deposited by cathodic magnetron sputtering on a stainless steel AISI 316L substrate. Mechanical and tribological properties were measured by nanoindentation and sliding wear tests respectively. Adhesion was evaluated by means of the scratch test. In order to determine the texture of the coatings, complementary characterization methods including X-ray diffraction in grazing incidence and Bragg Brentano configurations, as well as V scans, were performed. It was found that the texture of the crystalline coatings is strongly influenced by the amount of partial pressure of oxygen in the reactor atmosphere. The V2O5 phase, with an orthorhombic symmetry, was produced in the coating, which had a pronounced texturing for the (001) plane, exhibiting the best values of hardness and Young modulus. It was shown that, as the oxygen concentration drops to ,1 sccm, the mechanical and tribological characteristics, as well as the coating adhesion, tend to decrease considerably

Fatigue behavior of a structural steel coated with a WC–10Co–4Cr/Colmonoy 88 deposit by HVOF thermal spraying

The fatigue behavior of a SAE 4340 steel, coated with a 50% WC–10Co–4Cr/50% Colmonoy 88 deposit, by high velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) thermal spray, has been investigated. The change in the maximum alternating stress with the number of cycles to fracture has been described by means of the relationship advanced by Stromeyer. A fractographic analysis has been carried out on some representative fracture surfaces, by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The mechanical properties of the coating were characterized by means of nanoindentation tests. The results indicate that the coating is highly heterogeneous. Its deposition gives rise to a decrease in the fatigue strength of the substrate of ∼ 30%, in comparison with the uncoated substrate. The decrease in fatigue strength is due to the presence of stress concentrators at the substrate–coating interface, as well as the intrinsic characteristics of the coating

Comment la modernité vint au Maroc. Analyse d'une image du sport scolaire colonial (1955)

Autour de l'analyse d'une photographie de 1955 représentant des élèves d'une école de jeunes filles au Maroc jouant au volley-ball. Réflexion méthodologique : nécessité des opérations d'objectivation de l'image, pour historiciser celle-ci, la replacer dans son contexte; nécessité d'en passer par une histoire institutionnelle de l'image, puis d'en délimiter les fonctions, avant d'esquisser une interprétatio

New developments for fracture toughness determination by Vickers indentation

International audienc

Effect of thermal treatments on adhesive properties of a NiCr thermal sprayed coating

International audienc

Comparison of instrumented Knoop and Vickers hardness measurements on various soft materials and hard ceramics

International audienc