Influence of WC size and HVOF process on erosion wear performance of WC-10Co4Cr coatings

In the present study, based on the velocity and temperature measurements of in-flight particles and parameter optimization, multimodal and conventional WC-10Co4Cr cermet coatings were sprayed by high velocity oxygen gas fuel spraying (HVOGF) and high velocity oxygen liquid fuel spraying (HVOLF). The coatings’ structure, porosity, microhardness and fracture toughness were investigated by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) etc. Furthermore, erosion resistance of the coatings to solid sand was tested, followed by the exploration of the material failure mechanisms. Results show that the WC-10Co4Cr coatings deposited by HVOLF are mainly composed of WC with no obvious decarburization and amorphous CoCr binder. The mechanical properties of the coatings deposited by HVOLF are much more superior to those deposited by HVOGF. Multimodal WC-10Co4Cr coating deposited by HVOLF possesses the highest microhardness and fracture toughness, the lowest porosity and the most excellent resistance to sand solid erosion wear, which was enhanced by 15 and 40% than that of HVOLF conventional coatings at 30° and 90° impact angles. The improvement is even greater in comparison with multimodal coating deposited by HVOGF. These results have provided important reference for WC-CoCr anti-erosion coating design and optimization of high velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) process.