Development of a TiC/Cr23C6 Composite Coating on a 304 Stainless Steel Substrate through a Tungsten Inert Gas Process

Behzad Heidarshenas,Ghulam Hussain,Mohammed Asmael

doi:10.3390/coatings7060080

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a composite coating on 304 stainless steel employing a TIG (tungsten inert gas) process. Ti wire cored with graphite powder was used as the means of coating material. The process parameters were controlled to develop a coating with optimum characteristics (i.e., hardness and wear resistance). The microstructure of the coating was analyzed with SEM and XRD. It was found that both the hardness and the wear resistance increase as the current increases, while both of these properties decrease as travelling speed increases. It was found that the coated samples with composite layers were harder than the substrate and can range up to 1100 HV, almost 4.5 times higher than the hardness of 304 stainless steel. Likewise, the wear resistance of the coating was observed to be 4.5 times higher than that of the substrate. The high performance of the coating, as revealed by microstructural analysis, was due to the formation of TiC and Cr23C6.The optimum conditions for producing the coating are thus proposed to include a 120 A current and a 3.17 mm/s travel speed.

Highlights

IntroductionSeveral million tons of these alloys are produced in the world
Stainless steels (SSs) are of the most widely used alloys
Some of the steels tend to gall when they are brought into contact with other metallic materials, exhibiting poor wear resistance

Summary

Introduction

Several million tons of these alloys are produced in the world. It has a wide variety of applications ranging from kitchen appliances to heavy railways. A number of methods have been applied to improve the surface properties, including chemical and physical vapor deposition, ion implantation, and electron and laser beam [7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. The chemical and physical vapor deposition forms a thin layer on the surface, involving a long production time, whereas electron beam and laser techniques produce concentrated heat, which melts a rather thick coating layer on the substrate

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Discussion

Conclusion