Improvement of wear and adherence properties of composite coatings by a gradual increase in particle volume fraction

Abstract

Electrodeposited composites (ECs) are thin composite deposits made of a base metal or alloy which is reinforced by second phase particles of ceramic, polymer or graphite. ECs are produced rather inexpensively at temperatures below 60 C, where no strong interfacial reaction may occur and residual thermal stresses are negligible. Electrodeposited composites play an important role in tailoring the surface properties of bulk materials. Indeed, ECs containing particle volume fractions (PVF) up to 30% of hard ceramic particles exhibit superior hardness and wear resistance compared with pure metallic deposits and are therefore used as wear-resistant coatings. However, as the inert particles are not adhesive to the substrates, an increase in PVF is often accompanied by a decrease in adherence of the coating to the substrate. Furthermore, a high PVF is often accompanied by a dramatic loss of functional property, gradient composite coatings having a lower PVF at the substrate side and a higher PVF at the surface side of ECs is produced. In this work the authors present the wear and adhesion behavior of such gradient coatings. The matrix was either Cu or Ni and the second phase particles were alumina and silicon carbide.