Investigation of wear resistance of high velocity oxy-fuel sprayed WC-Co and Cr3C2-NiCr coatings

Abstract

In the present work, the comparative investigation of wear resistance was carried out for two types of thermal spray coatings – tungsten carbide-based (WC-Co) and chromium carbide-based (Cr3C2-NiCr) coatings deposited by high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spraying process. The wear mechanism was investigated in the interrelationship with wear particles formation. Wear resistance of coatings was evaluated by tribotester FALEX T-09. The wear debris after scuffing were studied by atomic force microscopy. Metallographical investigation was carried out using opti-cal microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). X-ray energy dispersion microprobe analysis was used for the investigation of the composition of coatings. The ob-tained results show that WC-Co coatings are characterized by better tribological characteristics. Wear resistance of coatings was connected with the microstructure.