Abstract
Detonation-gun spray technology is a novel coating deposition process which is capable of achieving very high gas and particle velocities approaching 4-5 times the speed of sound. This process provides the possibility of producing high hardness coatings with significant adherence strength. In the present study, this technique has been used to deposit WC-Co coatings on T22 boiler steel. Investigations on the oxidation performance of detonation-sprayed WC-Co coatings in air and in molten salt Na2SO4-82Fe2(SO4)3 at 700°C under cyclic conditions have been carried out. The thermogravimetric technique was used to establish the kinetics of corrosion. The uncoated boiler steel suffered a catastrophic corrosion in the form of intense spalling of its oxide scale during air, as well as, molten salt induced oxidation. The WC-Co coated specimens showed lesser overall weight gains in comparison to their uncoated counterparts in both the environments. The oxidation kinetics for the coated specimens followed nearly the parabolic rate law. The overall weight gain has been found to be higher in the case of air oxidation as compared to that in salt environment for all the cases. Scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) techniques were used to analyse the corrosion products, which indicated the formation of W and O as main elements in the oxide scales of the coated steel in both the environments.
