Abstract
For applications in which two contacting surfaces are in constant motion relative to each other, materials that are both wear resistant and non-abrasive are often required. Such attributes become even more important when the moving contact occurs with no liquid lubricants present to facilitate sliding. In the present study several WC-based coatings deposited using the HVOF process and containing one or more metal constituents as the binder (or matrix) phase were evaluated to determine their performance under conditions cf sliding wear. Image analysis of the coatings indicated a level of porosity of less than 1%. Hardness measurements found that values for the Vickers microhardness number were in the range of 1100-1500. For the wear tests, the test couple consisted of a coated ring (thrust washer type design) rotating against a stationary carbon disk. For each test, the contact load, speed of rotation and duration were controlled. During the test, the temperature of the carbon disk and the torque were recorded using a data acquisition system. This data was used to determine the coefficient of friction for each couple which, together with the results of measurements of weight change, provided a measure of the comparative performance of the various coatings. The preliminary results indicated that the values for the coefficient of friction for the various couples ranged from 0.15 to 0.29. The three coating compositions consisting of lONi-WC, 12Co-WC and 17Co-WC were found to out-perform other WC-based materials in these sliding wear tests.
