Electric arc deposition of carbon steel coatings with improved mechanical properties

To achieve high deposition rate and efficiency, electric arc spraying has been routinely used to deposit carbon steel coatings. Although retention of carbon in these coatings is poor due to the use of compressed air during spraying, the coatings are sufficiently hardened by brittle iron oxide inclusions to be suitable for hardfacing mechanical components used in mild adhesive and abrasive wear environments. However, carbon steel coatings can be employed for hardfacing mechanical components used in more aggressive wear environments, provided they are hardened by the carbon retention rather than by iron oxide inclu-sions. Therefore, to increase retention of carbon, reduce inclusion of iron oxides, and improve hardness and wear properties of carbon steel coatings, deposition experiments were carried out using an inexpen-sive nitrogen, which is produced on-site by a pressure swing adsorption or a membrane separation sys-tem, instead of compressed air during spraying.