An Investigation on the Wear and Corrosion Behavior of HVOF-Sprayed WC-12Co-Al2O3 Cermet Coating

The aim of the present study is to develop thermally sprayable WC-12Co and WC-12Co-xAl(2)O(3) (x = 10 and 15 wt.%) cermet coatings on steel substrate (SS 304) by high-velocity oxy fuel (HVOF) method. Influence of Al2O3 addition on the wear and corrosion behavior of WC-12Co coating has been studied. The microstructure and chemical composition of the coatings were analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), and phase identification was carried out using x-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. The morphology of the coating appears as coarse granular structure. The XRD studies revealed the presence of hexagonal WC phase along with eta-Co6W6C phase. It has been observed from the microhardness measurements, that the values gradually increase from 950 to 1300 HK with the addition of Al2O3 from 0 to 15 wt.%. The wear rate of WC-12Co-15Al(2)O(3) (3.19 x 10(-6) mm(3)/Nm) and WC-12Co-10Al(2)O(3) (5.26 x 10(-6) mm(3)/Nm) coatings was seen to be one order of magnitude lower than that of WC-12Co (2.9 x 10(-5) mm(3)/Nm) coating. The polarization studies revealed that WC-12Co-15Al(2)O(3) cermet coating showed superior corrosion protection than that of WC-12Co-10Al(2)O(3) and WC-12Co coatings. This has been attributed to the gradual decrease in the porosity levels with an increase in Al2O3 content which is supported by morphology studies. The microhardness and wear behavior of WC-12Co-Al2O3 coatings are equivalent to those of hard chrome suggesting the possibility of its replacement.