Sliding and Abrasive Wear Behavior of WC-CoCr Coatings with Different Carbide Sizes

This study examines the sliding and abrasive wear behaviors of high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF)-sprayed WC-CoCr coatings with different WC grain sizes. The HVOF coating deposition was assisted by in-flight particle temperature and velocity measurement system. The powder feedstocks and their corresponding coatings were characterized by means of XRD and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope analysis. Hardness, porosity, and indentation fracture toughness of these coatings were calculated and compared with each other. Sliding wear resistance of these coatings was calculated using pin-on-disk tribometer (ASTM G99-90). The two-body abrasion was quantified by sliding the samples over silicon carbide (SiC) abrasive paper bonded to a rotating flat disk of auto-polisher. The mechanism of materials' removal in both the sliding and abrasive wears was studied and discussed on microstructural investigations. It was observed that fine grain WC-CoCr cermet coating exhibits higher sliding and abrasive wear resistances as compared with conventional cermet coating.