Structure and tribocorrosion behavior of CrMoSiCN nanocomposite coating with low C content in artificial seawater

Yongqiang Fu,Fei Zhou,Qianzhi Wang,Zhifeng Zhou,Maoda Zhang

doi:10.1007/s40544-020-0445-5

Abstract

CrMoSiCN nanocomposite coatings with a low C content were prepared on Ti-6Al-4V using an unbalanced magnetron sputtering system, and their corresponding microstructures, mechanical properties, and tribocorrosion performance were evaluated in detail. The results revealed that the CrMoSiCN coating had a compact nanocomposite microstructure consisting of CrN and Mo2N nanocrystallites, (Cr, Mo)N solid solution, and Si-C-N amorphous phases. Moreover, the coating exhibited superior mechanical properties with a hardness of 28.6 GPa and an elastic modulus of 273 GPa, owing to the solid solution strengthening effect. The tribocorrosion test results showed that the dominant failure of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy was caused by the corrosion contribution to wear behaviors (synergistic effect). The CrMoSiCN nanocomposite coating could effectively alleviate the material loss caused by the synergistic effect of corrosion and wear behaviors, leading to pure wear behaviors during the entire tribocorrosion process. The corresponding tribocorrosion mechanisms under the open circuit potential and dynamic polarization conditions were discussed in terms of their tribocorrosion behaviors.

Highlights

With the rapid pace of marine resource exploration, the requirements for the quality of marine equipment are becoming more stringent
The total material wear loss volume ( T ) during the tribocorrosion test could be divided into the following parts: (1) the loss volume caused by pure wear behaviors ( W ); (2) the loss volume caused by pure corrosion behaviors ( Co ); (3) the loss volume caused by the joint action ( T ), which includes two parts: the loss volume caused by wear contribution to corrosion ( Cw ); and the loss volume owing to the corrosion contribution to wear ( Wc )
CrMoSiCN coatings with nanocomposite microstructures were prepared on a Ti−6Al−4V alloy using an unbalanced magnetron sputtering system

Summary

Introduction

With the rapid pace of marine resource exploration, the requirements for the quality of marine equipment are becoming more stringent. The most challenging limitation of marine equipment is that its metal components experience friction, wear, and erosion simultaneously in a strongly corrosive marine environment, which leads to the premature failure of these components. The service life and reliability of marine equipment primarily depend on the wear and corrosion performance of the components in seawater [1, 2]. The ideal solution is to protect the component surface using hard coatings with favorable wear-resistant and anti-corrosion properties [3]. There are two points that limit the development of CrN-based coatings: the first is that a single-component coating can no longer meet practical requirements, and the second point is that the traditional test methods cannot simulate real working conditions. Kong et al [12] reported that excessive C content forms an amorphous phase in CrN coating, which results in a loose and porous

Results

Discussion

Conclusion