Microstructure and Sliding Wear Behaviour of Ni(Cr)-TiB_2 Coatings Deposited by HVOF Spraying of SHS Powders

THERMAL SPRAYING provides a large range ofcoatings,which increase the wear resistance ofsubstrates1].One of the major coating families is thecermet,composed of hard ceramic particles with ametallic binder.The most commonly used cermetcoatings in industrial applications are based on eitherthe WC-Co or the Cr3C2-Ni(Cr)systems with WC-17wt%Co and Cr3C2-25wt%Ni(Cr)being typicalcompositions2,3].Although WC-Co deposits are hardand wear resistant at ambient temperatures their rangeof ap…

Microstructure and Sliding Wear Behaviour of Ni(Cr)-TiB2 Coatings Deposited by HVOF Spraying of SHS Powders

This work reports research concerning the microstructure and sliding wear behaviour of cermet coatings deposited by high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spraying. Two cermets were prepared with the following target compositions namely, Ni (Cr)-65 wt.% TiB2 and Ni (Cr)-40 wt.% TiB2. Coating microstructures were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), whilst microhardness and sliding wear tests were performed on the coatings to evaluate their performance. The HVOF sprayed deposits had layered, splat-like morphologies typical of thermally sprayed cermets. Coatings consisted primarily of TiB2 particles in a nickel-based binder phase. Other minor peaks in the XRD patterns belong to TiB, Ni2B, NiTiO3 and Ti2O3. The coatings exhibit an amorphous halo in the diffraction pattern between 2θ. values of 40° and 50°. Sliding wear behaviour was examined using a conventional ball-on-disc apparatus. A sintered ceramic ball (Al2O3) was employed as the counterface. The Ni (Ct)-65 wt.% TiB2 coating had a lower wear rate than Ni (Cr)-40 wt.% TiB2 coating. This may be related to the larger sizes of borides. Wear scar morphologies, on both coatings were examined by using SEM and EDAX detecting in order to establish the wear mechanism. Wear is proposed to proceed by subsurface cracking in these coatings.