Erosive Wear Study of HVOF Spray Cr3C2-NiCr Coated CA6NM Turbine Steel

Degradation of surfaces of hydroturbine components caused by impact of abrasive particles carried by flowing water is a serious issue. To counteract the same, surface modification of turbine materials by the application of protective coatings is gaining popularity these days. In this work, Cr3C2-NiCr coating was deposited on CA6NM turbine steel by the HVOF spray process and studied with regard to its performance under different slurry erosion conditions. The effect of three parameters, namely average particle size of slurry particles, speed (rpm), and slurry concentration on slurry erosion of this coating material, was studied by using a high speed erosion test rig. The analysis of the surfaces of the samples before and after slurry erosion tests was done by using SEM. The HVOF sprayed Cr3C2-NiCr coating showed very good performance under slurry erosion in comparison with uncoated CA6NM steel.