High-temperature wear and frictional behavior of partially oxidized Al with NiCr composite coating

Abstract

The influence of composite coating in improving wear and frictional behavior from room temperature to 600 °C was investigated. Partially oxidized Al powder was prepared with a flame spray process by spraying pure Al powder into distilled water. The composite powder is the mixture of 30 weight percent of partially oxidized Al and 70 weight percent of NiCr alloy powder. The composite powder was subsequently coated on MDN321 steel by air plasma spray process. The composite coatings are characterized with respect to adhesion strength, porosity, micro-hardness, and density. Wear and frictional behavior of coatings are evaluated under disc speed of 1 and 2 m s−1, loads of 10, 20 and 30 N and 3000 m sliding distance. The test results indicated that at room temperature, frictional heat generated due to applied load produce three-body abrasion at the interface caused to increase the wear and friction in the coating. The oxide film formed at high temperature due to plastic deformation avoids surface degradation at the interface and reduce the wear and friction. The worn surfaces at 600 °C consist phases of α-Al2O3, NiO, and Cr3O. These phases are contributing to improving the wear resistance of the coating more than 4-times compared to uncoated steels under varying load and sliding velocities. The coefficient of friction reduced with increase in temperature due to generated oxides act as lubricants at the interface.