A New Plasma Surface Alloying to Improve the Wear Resistance of the Metallic Card Clothing

Abstract

A new surface strengthening process: Plasma surface chromizing was implemented on the metallic card clothing to improve its wear resistance based on double glow plasma surface metallurgy technology. A chromizing coating was prepared in the process, which consisted of a deposited layer and diffusion layer. The surface morphologies, microstructure, phase composition, and hardness were analyzed in detail. The friction behaviors of the metallic card clothing before and after plasma surface alloying were comparatively analyzed under various sliding speeds at room temperature. The results showed that: 1. The chromizing coating on the surface of metallic card clothing was dense and homogeneous without defects, and the metallic card clothing still maintained its integrity and sharpness. 2. The chromizing coating consist of [Fe,Cr], Cr, Cr23C6, and Cr7C3, which contribute to the high hardness. 3. The average microhardness of metallic card clothing increased from 365.4 HV0.05 to 564.9 HV0.05 after plasma surface chromizing. Nano hardness of the chromizing coating was approximately 1.87 times than the metallic card clothing. 4. At various sliding velocities of 2 m/min, 4 m/min, and 6 m/min, the specific wear rates of metallic card clothing were 16.38, 9.06 and 6.26 × 10−4·mm3·N−1·m−1, and the specific wear rates of metallic card clothing after plasma surface chromizing were 2.91, 3.30, and 2.95 × 10−4·mm3·N−1·m−1. Furthermore, the wear mechanism of the chromizing coating gradually changed from adhesive wear to abrasive wear as the sliding velocity increased. The results indicate that the wear resistance of metallic card clothing was improved obviously after plasma surface chromizing.