Microstructure and Sliding Wear Behaviour of Ni(Cr)-TiB_2 Coatings Deposited by HVOF Spraying of SHS Powders

This work reports research concerning the microstructure and sliding wear behaviour of cermet coatings deposited by high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spraying. Two cermets were prepared with the following target compositions namely, Ni (Cr)-65 wt.% TiB2 and Ni (Cr)-40 wt.% TiB2. Coating microstructures were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), whilst microhardness and sliding wear tests were performed on the coatings to evaluate their performance. The HVOF sprayed deposits had layered, splat-like morphologies typical of thermally sprayed cermets. Coatings consisted primarily of TiB2 particles in a nickel-based binder phase. Other minor peaks in the XRD patterns belong to TiB, Ni2B, NiTiO3 and Ti2Oj. The coatings exhibit an amorphous halo in the diffraction pattern between 2 values of 40° and 50°. Sliding wear behaviour was examined using a conventional ball-on-disc apparatus. A sintered ceramic ball (A12O3) was employed as the counterface. The Ni (Cr)-65 wt.% TiB2 coating had a lower wear rate than Ni (Cr)-40 wt.% TiB2 coating. This may be related to the larger sizes of borides. Wear scar morphologies, on both coatings were examined by using SEM and EDAX detecting in order to establish the wear mechanism. Wear is proposed to proceed by subsurface cracking in these coatings.