Effect of substrate on the 3 body abrasion wear of HVOF WC-17 wt.% Co coatings

WC-17 wt.% Co coatings were deposited using high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spraying onto four different substrate materials, namely aluminium, brass, 304 stainless steel and super-invar. These substrates have different coefficients of thermal expansion which have been shown to influence the final coating microstructural properties. The abrasive wear properties of the coatings were characterised using an ASTM-G65 three body abrasive wear machine with silica sand as the abrasive. The highest mass loss was recorded for the coating on the aluminium substrate whilst the coated 304 stainless steel showed the lowest mass loss. The coatings on brass and super invar experienced similar mass losses. SEM studies of the worn surfaces showed preferential removal of the Co binder phase as well as cracking and rounding of the carbide grains. The differences in wear behaviour may be attributed to the presence of residual stresses where the highest compressive residual stress led to the highest wear rate. The coatings deposited onto brass showed compressive stresses whilst those deposited onto super-invar had tensile stresses, yet these two coatings had similar wear rates. Thus further study is required to provide conclusive evidence of the role of residual stresses on the abrasion resistance of these coatings.