Abstract
The potential of post heat-treatment to improve the wear properties of nanostructured WC-Co coatings was investigated in the present study. Since the nanostructured coatings are more susceptible to the detrimental reactions during spraying than their conventional counterparts, there is certain limitation in optimization of coating properties by adjusting process parameters. Post heat-treatment of nanostructured coatings can thus offer one solution to achieve further improvement in coating performance. Nanostructured WC-Co coatings prepared by HVOF spraying were heat-treated under various temperatures and their wear properties were compared to those of the as-sprayed condition. The influence of the post heat-treatment was discussed in terms of changes in microstructure, composition and hardness of the coatings. These results demonstrate that the wear resistance of the nanostructured WC-Co coatings can be improved without any degradation of the substrate properties by proper post heat-treatment process.
