An Investigation of the Thermal Sprayed Molybdenum Coatings Behaviour to Micro-Abrasion Wear

Abstract

The wear behaviour of thick molybdenum coatings deposited by electric arc thermal spray on steel support was investigated by micro-abrasion, a relatively recent introduced method for small scale wear testing. The wear mechanisms and wear rates without coatings penetration were investigated with respect of time corresponding to primary and secondary wear stages. The micro-abrasion of Mo coatings using SiC abrasive slurry have been discussed and wear scar characteristics were evaluated based on the experimentally results. The worn surfaces of the tested specimen were examined by SEM and the specific wear rate was calculated from experimental data. For the testing durations used it was identified the change from grooving to rolling wear corresponding to the transition of wear mode from two-body to three body-abrasion.