Microstructure and Sliding Wear Performance of Plasma-Sprayed TiB2-Ni Coating Deposited from Agglomerated and Sintered Powder

This work is aimed at developing a route for the deposition of TiB₂-Ni cermet coating. The feedstock was firstly prepared by agglomeration and sintering, which was subsequently subjected to plasma spraying. The microstructures and the phase composition of the powder, as well as the sprayed coating were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. The microhardness (Hv) and the fracture toughness (K _IC) of the coating were evaluated. A sliding wear test was also performed on the sprayed coating by SRV^® tribo-tester using GCr15 steel as a counterpart. The results showed that the phase of sprayed TiB₂-Ni coatings consisted of TiB₂, Ni, and Ni₂₀Ti₃B₆, whose amount varied depending on the powder calcination temperature and the TiB₂ content in the powder. Both the hardness and the fracture toughness of the coating were also changed with different powders. The Ni₂₀Ti₃B₆ brittle phase was the main factor affecting the fracture toughness of coating, which also had detrimental effect on the sliding wear performance. The 60TiB₂-40Ni coating deposited from the powder calcined at 1250 °C had better sliding wear performance as it presented more dense structure, higher TiB₂ content and less retained Ni₂₀Ti₃B₆ phase in the coating.