Parameter study of HP/HVOF deposited WC-Co coatings

The deposition parameters of WC-17%Co coatings produced using the JP-5000 liquid-fuel HP/HVOF system (Eutectic TAFA) were investigated with the initial purpose of parameter improvement and optimization. The coating microstructures, porosities, phase compositions, and abrasion resistance were characterized. Preliminary work using the Taguchi statistical experimental design method aimed at optimizing the spray parameters in terms of the microstructure and phase composition was unsuccessful. The variations in the measured properties were too small to be correlated with the spray parameters. Subsequent experiments showed this was primarily due to the fact that the properties, particularly the abrasion resistance, of the WC-Co coatings were not primarily influenced by variations in the spray parameters, but were more dependent on the powder composition, particle size range, and manufacturing route. Hence, the application of Taguchi techniques would have been more effective over a much wider parameter space than was originally used. This result is valuable because it suggests that this process is robust and can be used for WC-Co coatings without large investments in spray parameter optimization and control once the coating and powder type have been fixed.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]