Evaluation of corrosion and wear resistance of hard cermet coatings sprayed by using an improved HVOF process

Research for alternatives of hard chrome plating has been widely carried out in the world. High-velocity oxygen-fuel (HVOF)-sprayed cermet coating is one of such alternative candidates. Depending on the cermet powder for spraying, however, sometimes the density of the sprayed coatings is not sufficient for desired corrosion resistance. A gas-shroud (GS) attachment for use with commercial HVOF, which is effective in suppressing oxidation of sprayed particles while raising the velocity of sprayed particles, has been developed. The GS-HVOF spray has been successfully applied to corrosion resistant alloys such as HastelloyC. In this study, a WC cermet system with corrosion and wear resistance was sprayed using a gas-shroud attachment. Porosity in the coatings was observed by the microscopic observation of cross sections. Corrosion and wear resistance was evaluated by alternating current corrosion monitoring in artificial seawater and abrasive wear-tester, respectively. Coatings deposited by the gas-shroud HVOF were superior in terms of both corrosion and wear resistance to coatings formed by the conventional HVOF. The density of the sprayed coatings was improved using the gas-shroud attachment, resulting in superior corrosion and wear resistance.