Abstract
The paper presents a wet spray method as an alternative to the thermal spray process when post-spray fusion of the coating is required to improve coating density and obtain a metallurgical bond to the substrate. The relatively new wet process [1] has been successfully used to apply alloy metal powders to ferrous substrates such as steels, grey and ductile iron, and other iron alloys. Since a majority of wear parts used in the heavy equipment industry are made of steels and irons the technology is found applicable to a large number of ferrous parts for reducing wear and extending life. The process has advantages over the thermal spray process in that it is much less expensive and can be applied to a much greater thickness without concern for pre-fusion coating stress and spalling. In this work, a commercially available iron based alloy powder was applied to several heavy equipment parts to produce wear and corrosion resistant coatings that were evaluated through laboratory and field tests. Many of these parts are now in production. The paper gives the process details and its current status, presents test data, and discusses its advantages and limitations over the thermal spray process.
