High temperature friction and wear characteristics of various coating materials for steam valve spindle application

Various coatings such as chromium carbide (deposited by plasma spraying and detonation gun techniques), chromium oxide, chromium oxide+titania+silica, NiCrAlY, and Al₂O₃+NiAl, all deposited by plasma spraying; stelliting, and surface nitriding have been applied on X20CrMo V121 steel. This steel is used for high temperature applications such as steam turbine valve spindle. Friction and wear behavior of the surface coated and treated materials have been studied at an elevated temperature of 550°C while rubbing against graphite-filled stellited steel. These studies have been carried out on SRV Optimol reciprocating tribometer. Test parameters for tribological studies have been selected with a view to simulate operating conditions encountered in operation. Additionally, the structure, porosity, hardness, bond strength, and thermal cycling behaviour of these surface coated/treated materials have been characterised. Based on these laboratory investigations, chromium carbide coating deposited by plasma spraying technique has been identified as the most suitable coating for steam turbine valve spindle application. Process parameters have been established for deposition of chromium carbide coating by plasma spraying technique on actual valve spindles. The field results obtained are found to be commensurate with the laboratory findings.     

Corrosion and erosion performance of HVOF/TiAlN PVD coatings and candidate materials for high pressure gate valve application

The main objective of this paper is to study the slurry erosion and corrosion behavior of WC10Co4Cr, Armcore ‘M’ Stellite 6 and 12 HVOF coatings, TiAlN PVD coating, selected steels, such as X20Cr13, 17Cr–4Ni pH steel and Ti6Al4V titanium alloy alongwith conventional hard weld deposits of Stellite 6 and 21. The slurry erosion studies were carried out at 60° angle of impingement for the velocities in the range of 15–20 m/s using mineral sand of −40 to +80 mesh. The corrosion studies were carried out as per ASTM B 117-73 for 100 h. During slurry erosion testing, WC10Co4Cr HVOF along with TiAlN PVD coating are found out, to be the best coating materials followed by HVOF coating of Armcore ‘M’ material. However, for corrosion, Ti6Al4V, Stellite 6 and 21 hard weld deposits and 17Cr–4Ni pH steel turned out to be the best materials followed by HVOF coating of Stellite 6 and 12. HVOF coatings of WC10Co4Cr and Armcore ‘M’ materials corroded significantly, however, TiAlN PVD coating corroded very badly even after 24 h of testing.     

The role of lubrication and corrosion in abrasion of materials in aqueous environments

A rubber wheel type test apparatus has been constructed which allows abrasion testing to be conducted in slurry or dry environments in otherwise identical conditions. Abrasion tests of a steel, a sintered tungsten carbide–cobalt hardmetal and an HVOF sprayed nickel chrome–chromium carbide cermet coating have been performed in dry and aqueous slurry conditions, the latter with both neutral and acidic carriers. It has been shown that the aqueous carrier acts as an effective lubricant and thus significantly reduces the abrasion rate over that observed in dry conditions. However, enhancement of corrosion by use of an acid slurry lead to an increase in the rate of material removal over that of the neutral aqueous conditions in all cases. Increases were small for the corrosion resistant cermet coating and moderate for the steel. Significant enhancement of wear was observed for the sintered WC–Co hardmetal where rapid removal of the cobalt binder by the acid resulted in a change in dominant mechanism of carbide removal from attritive wear to pullout.     

Experimental investigations of mechanical properties and slurry erosion behaviour of high velocity oxy fuel and plasma sprayed Cr2O3–50%Al2O3 coatings on CA6NM turbine steel under hydro accelerated conditions

Slurry erosion behaviour of HVOF (High Velocity Oxy Fuel) and plasma sprayed coatings on CA6NM hydraulic turbine steel has been investigated at different levels of various parameters. The Cr₂O₃–50%Al₂O₃ composite powder was prepared and deposited on CA6NM steel samples to get the uniform thickness coatings. The surface roughness, porosity and microhardness of as-coated samples were measured. The as-coated samples were subjected to SEM/EDS analysis to evaluate the surface microstructure of the developed coatings. Erosion tests were performed on self made erosion test rig under hydro accelerated conditions. The study reveals that the velocity, impact angle and slurry concentration were the most significant parameters, influencing the erosion rate of these coatings. The average particle size had least affect on the erosion rate. HVOF-coated samples showed better corrosion resistance as compared to plasma-coated samples due to high hardness of HVOF-coated CA6NM samples.     

Elevated temperature erosion–corrosion of thermal sprayed coatings in chlorine containing environments

A series of hot erosion and erosion–corrosion (E–C) tests was carried out on thermal sprayed coatings, diffusion coatings and boiler steels using a burner-rig type elevated temperature E–C tester in order to evaluate the possibility to utilise thermal sprayed coatings in shielding of boiler components. Test conditions simulated the E–C conditions in the superheater section of a circulating fluidised bed combustor (CFBC). Carbide containing HVOF coatings performed well in erosion tests, as expected. Also diffusion coatings and nickel-based, high-chromium HVOF coatings performed well. In E–C tests in presence of chlorine, nickel-based HVOF coatings performed the best, whereas carbide containing HVOF coatings and diffusion coatings wore away.     

Cemented carbide and cermet tooling for film-perforating

The tools used to perforate a particular photographic film started to wear at an unacceptable rate when the film base was changed from cellulose triacetate to polyester (PET). A laboratory investigation was initiated to screen candidate tool materials and identify ones with potential for 10 times life improvement over cemented carbide (WC/10% Co).

The screening tests started with abrasion and corrosion tests on various grades of cemented carbide, cermets and selected ceramics. Concurrent production trials indicated that the laboratory corrosion tests were not correlating with production results. To address this problem, a “nibbler” test was developed which simulates perforating and material removal on a punch after 10⁶ perforations (nibbles) became the screening test metric.

It was determined that abrasion tests do not accurately predict tool material behavior when chemicals are present on or in the materials being perforated. Static corrosion tests do not predict tool response under production conditions. The rubbing of the film on the tool surfaces removes protective films and there can be a significant corrosion component in tool erosion. The nibbler simulates real tool conditions because erosion is produced by actual cutting of coated webs. Nibbler tests in this study indicated that alumina/zirconia resisted film erosion better than cemented carbide, even cemented carbide with PVD coatings. The nibbler tests also indicated that leaving recast layers from electrical discharge machining on cemented carbide greatly increases erosion rates. It should be removed.

Production tests conducted since completion of these laboratory studies suggests that nibbler results correlate with production results. Coated cemented carbides are providing 3 times the service life of uncoated cemented carbides as predicted by the nibbler test.     

Fretting of WC/a-C:H and Cr2N Coatings Under Grease-Lubricated and Unlubricated Conditions

The fretting phenomenon was investigated experimentally in contacts between coated and uncoated steel rod and ball specimens generating a circular Hertzian contact. A fretting wear test rig equipped with a video camera was used to observe the effects of fretting on coated steel surfaces in both grease-lubricated and unlubricated environments. Tungsten carbide reinforced amorphous hydrocarbon (WC/a-C:H) and chromium nitride (Cr₂N) coatings were tested and compared. Fretting wear volumes and surface profiles are presented for both grease-lubricated and unlubricated conditions. Videos of a coated ball fretting against a transparent sapphire flat were recorded and screen captures are presented. The role of normal load, lubrication, frequency, and amplitude of motion on the fretting wear of coatings is discussed. The lubricant released from the grease was observed to flow through channels in the stick zone of the fretting contacts. Both coatings were found to reduce fretting wear. WC/a-C:H was more effective at reducing wear under unlubricated conditions. WC/a-C:H decreased fretting wear more than Cr₂N when delamination was avoided in grease-lubricated contacts.     

腐蚀介质条件下NiCrBSi/WC喷熔层的摩擦学性能研究

采用氧-乙炔火焰喷熔工艺,制备了碳化钨颗粒增强镍基合金喷熔层(NiCrBSi/WC),研究了它在腐蚀介质条件下的摩擦磨损行为与机理,并考察了载荷、滑动速度对其摩擦磨损性能的影响规律。研究结果表明:NiCrBSi/WC具有良好的耐腐蚀磨损性能,且当WC含量为20%时,腐蚀磨损率最低;WC含量超过20%后,由于喷熔层存在“腐蚀原电池”效应,其腐蚀磨损率增大。NiCrBSi/WC的腐蚀磨损率随载荷增加而变大,随速度增大而减小。载荷的增加使喷熔层的犁削磨损加剧,导致摩擦系数和磨损率增大;速度的增大造成摩擦界面温度上升,可生成摩擦转移膜,从而降低了喷熔层的磨损率。     

The wear-resistant coating of steel by chemical vapour deposition

There is a steady increase in the use of chemical vapour deposition to deposit carbides of the transition metals onto the surface of steel. In this process the transition metal, in the form of a volatile chloride, is normally carried to the surface in a controlled manner by a carrier gas together with a carbon-containing reactant such as a gaseous hydrocarbon. These react at the steel surface to form a carbide layer on it which is smooth, hard, continuous and wear and corrosion resistant. The general features of the process are described for the specific coatings of titanium carbide and chromium carbide on high alloy ledeburitic carbon steels. By way of illustration three examples are discussed which are of industrial significance.     

Wear resistance of steels under wet-abrasive erosion conditions

The wear resistance of 22 different steels with various heat treatments in a silica sand slurry was studied. Two types of slurry were used, a fresh sharp grain slurry, and a worn dull grain slurry.In the sharp grain slurry the wear resistance increased with the hardness of the steel. In the dull grain slurry the wear resistance was divided into two major groups. For the steels containing little or no chromium the wear resistance decreased slightly with an increase in the hardness of the steel. For steels with a higher chromium content the wear resistance was three times that of the steels with a low chromium content. The latter behaviour was thought to be the result of the abrasives removing only the products of corrosion and not the steel substrate.The role of corrosion was confirmed by testing three steels in the two types of slurry test, with and without a corrosion inhibitor.Hadfield manganese steel has poor wear resistance in both the sharp and the dull grain slurry. It is actually slightly worse in the dull grain slurry.     

A study on erosive wear behavior of HVOF sprayed nanostructured WC-CoCr coatings

WC-CoCr cermet coatings were deposited on stainless steel substrate using high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) thermal spray process. The coatings were developed with two different thermal spray powders: one has WC grains of conventional micron size and the other is composed of nanosized (near-nanostructured) grains. HVOF spraying was assisted with in-flight particle temperature and velocity measurement system to control the process parameters that have resulted in quality coatings. Cavitation erosion testing was performed using a vibratory test apparatus based on ASTM standard G32-98. Surface morphology of powders and coatings was examined using the FESEM images, and phase identification was performed by XRD analysis. The erosion behavior of coatings and mechanism of material removal was discussed by examining the microstructure images of worn-out surfaces. WC-CoCr cermet coating deposited with nanosized WC grains exhibited higher cavitation erosion resistance as compared to conventional coating.     

Wear behavior of carbide-injected titanium and aluminum alloys

A study of the wear resisting behavior of aluminum- and titanium-base alloys containing particles of TiC or WC introduced by the laser meltparticle injection process suggests that these materials may have significant potential for use in light-weight machinery. The carbide particles were injected, by a stream of helium gas, into shallow melt pools produced on the alloy samples as they were traversed under a multikilowatt laser beam which was focused to a diameter of about 2 mm. Repeated overlapping melt passes produced surface layers approximately 1 mm deep containing 15–65 vol.% of carbide. Ground surfaces were subjected to abrasive and particulate erosion wear testing. Kinetic coefficient of friction measurements were made on ground and polished surfaces. Sliding contact wear testing and particulate erosion testing were carried out on an aluminum alloy impregnated with TiC. Test results are correlated with carbide type, size and volume fraction.     

Fine-particle slurry wear resistance of selected tungsten carbide thermal spray coatings

The surface degradation of tungsten carbide based thermal spray coatings when exposed to fine-particle slurry abrasion has been investigated. The coatings that were studied contain binder-phase constituents consisting of either nickel or cobalt. The coatings were deposited onto test cylinders using a detonation gun device. After applying approximately 0.15 mm thickness of thermal spray coating, the coatings were ground, then diamond polished to achieve surface roughnesses of 0.03 μm Ra or less. The coatings were exposed to a three-body abrasive wear test involving zirconia particles (less than 3 μm diameter) in a water-based slurry. Results show that preferential binder wear plays a significant role in the wear of these tungsten carbide coatings by fine abrasives. In the comparison presented here, the coating containing nickel-based binder with a dense packing of primary carbides was superior in terms of retaining its surface finish upon exposure to abrasion. The coating containing a cobalt binder showed severe surface degradation.     

超音速火焰喷涂微米和纳米结构WC-12Co涂层及其性能

以纳米和微米级WC-12Co粉末为原料,采用超音速火焰喷涂(HVOF)方法在16Mn基体上制备了两种涂层.利用X射线衍射仪对喷涂粉末及涂层进行了相结构分析,用扫描电镜对喷涂粉末、磨粒磨损前后的涂层表面形貌进行了观察,探讨了粉末结构、涂层的组织和结构以及抗磨粒磨损的性能.结果表明:WC-12Co粉末结构对涂层的组织结构影响非常显著,微米WC-12Co粉末中的WC的分解基本上得到了抑止,而纳米结构的粉末由于出现了WC的部分分解,导致了纳米涂层的抗磨粒磨损性能相对于微米涂层提高不多,但是与基体16Mn相比,两种涂层均表现出优异的抗磨粒磨损性能.     

超音速火焰喷涂碳化钨钴合金涂层对橡胶密封件的磨损研究

通过磨合试验,比较了超音速火焰(HVOF)喷涂碳化钨钴合金涂层与传统的含氰镀铬镀层与橡胶密封件对磨时的磨损情况.结果表明:HVOF喷涂碳化钨钴合金涂层具有良好的耐磨性和致密性,始终保持较良好的表面状况,对非金属密封件具有良好的适应性.     

Amorphous diamond coating of tungsten carbide and titanium carbonitride for erosive slurry pump component service

Tungsten carbide spray coatings have become well established for resisting abrasion and erosion in pumps used in conventional oil production and in oil sands operations. To achieve additional benefits from the extreme wear resistance of tungsten carbide its use is being extended to solid forms for some critical components. Slightly harder titanium carbonitride-based cermets have much lower density and coefficient of thermal expansion and for these reasons are being considered as an alternative to tungsten carbide. PVD amorphous diamond coating also has potential to further increase the service life of selected pump parts fabricated from solid cermets. Micro-abrasion testing and single scratch and nano-indentation evaluation have been carried out on non-coated and PVD amorphous diamond coated WC-4.8% TaC–4.5% TiC/6% Co–1% Cr and TiCN-17% WC/8% Mo materials. Data obtained illustrate that the tungsten–carbide based product has superior wear properties to the titanium carbonitride material and that PVD amorphous diamond coating of both cermets enhanced wear resistance significantly and displayed potential for successful service application.     

Solid Particle Erosion Behavior of WC Coating Obtained by Electrospark Technique and Detonation Spraying

Solid particle erosion is an important material degradation process. One way of improving the erosion resistance of a material is to suitably modify the surface. Electrospark deposition (ESD) is a well-known surface modification process. Operational simplicity, low capital cost, and low operational cost of the ESD process have made it attractive for high-technology areas in engineering industries. Tungsten carbide (WC) is considered a potential hard material for erosion-resistant application. This material can be deposited by ESD. The present investigation has been undertaken to evaluate the room-temperature erosion response of WC coating deposited by ESD and to compare the erosion behavior of this coating with that of detonation-sprayed WC-Co coating. WC coatings were deposited on mild steel (MS) and aluminum substrate by ESD. Similarly, WC-12% Co coatings were deposited on MS and Al by detonation spraying. The microstructural features and mechanical properties of these coatings were characterized using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction, and microhardness testing. The solid particle erosion rate was determined using an erosion test rig. The morphology of the eroded surfaces and the areas beneath the eroded surfaces were examined by means of SEM. The results showed that the WC coating by ESD improves erosion resistance. Although most coatings exhibit a ductile erosion response, WC coating by ESD on Al substrate exhibits a brittle erosion response. Material loss from ESD coating on Al occurs due to the joining of preexisting cracks and the removal of chunk of material.     

冲击形式产生的冲蚀、空蚀和腐蚀联合磨损试验研究

舰船等海洋运输装备在海水中行驶时,船体表面受到含沙海水的冲蚀磨损,舰船行驶速度变化引起的空蚀磨损,以及海水的腐蚀磨损,因此舰船表面材料的破坏形式是冲击式的冲蚀、空蚀和腐蚀联合磨损。为了研究联合磨损的影响因素,研制冲蚀、空蚀和腐蚀联合磨损试验台,并实验研究沙粒浓度、沙粒尺寸、含盐浓度以及冲蚀速度对45钢试件的联合磨损影响规律。实验结果表明:冲蚀、空蚀和腐蚀联合磨损程度强于冲蚀和空蚀交互磨损或单纯腐蚀磨损,在较低的沙粒浓度和较低的含盐浓度条件下,金属材料联合磨损质量损失与沙粒浓度、沙粒尺寸、含盐浓度和冲蚀速度均成正比关系。磨损面形貌分析表明:随着沙粒浓度、沙粒尺寸、含盐浓度、冲蚀速度的增加,试件表面的冲蚀沟和空蚀孔的磨痕深度和面积增大,而在人造海水中,试件表面不仅存在冲蚀沟和空蚀孔,还产生了腐蚀坑。     

Erosive wear of selected metals in coal washing environments

A slurry erosive wear apparatus developed by the authors has been used to test the erosive wear behaviour of selected metals in coal washing environments. The erosive wear test machine was employed to determine the effects of (1) carbon content in carbon steels, (2) chromium content in alloy steels, and (3) corrosion of aqueous solutions on the erosive wear behaviour of metals. The test results revealed that the carbon content in annealed carbon steels slightly affects the erosive wear resistance of metals, while the increase in chromium content of alloy steels apparently improves the erosive wear resistance of metals and, when a corrosion inhibitor is added to slurries, the erosive wear rates of metals reduces significantly. Two types of micro-mechanism were deduced from the observation of eroded surfaces by SEM: (1) local exfoliation, and (2) micro-cutting. The corrosion inhibitor can alter the micro-mechanism from local exfoliation to micro-cutting. The analyses show that the erosive wear of selected metals in slurries results from the synergistic effects of wear by solid particles plus fluid corrosion.     

Slurry erosion resistance of boride-based overlays containing boride crystals oriented perpendicularly to the wearing surface

Components exposed to the flow of liquid solutions containing hard particles experience significant material loss. For defined slurry conditions, the extent of damage to the components depends upon their microstructure and the slurry particle impingement angles. This paper presents the research work carried on to develop a gas metal arc welding (GMAW) clad overlay that resists slurry erosion at both low and high particle angles. GMAW overlays containing hard primary Fe₂B crystals in a supporting matrix enriched in molybdenum, carbon and silicon have been considered. Cored wires of specific compositions deposited with adapted welding parameters produce weld overlays presenting a peculiar microstructure. These iron boride-based overlays contain fine elongated boride crystals aligned mainly perpendicularly to the wearing surface. This peculiar microstructure is responsible for the outstanding slurry erosion resistance observed at both impinging angles of 30° and 90°. These iron boride-based overlays present a slurry erosion resistance at low and high impinging angles far beyond that observed with known materials including chromium carbide overlays.