Comparison on erosion performance of HVOF sprayed NiCrSiBCFe-WC-Co and NiCrSiBCFe-Cr₃C₂NiCr coatings

Hard coatings are used to improve the wear resistance of various engineering materials while maintaining the mechanical properties of the base material. In this work, the high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) thermal spray process was used to deposit NiCrSiBCFe(65)-WC-Co(35) and NiCrSiBCFe(65)-Cr 3 C 2 -NiCr(35) coatings on SA213-T17 boiler steel to improve the erosion wear resistance of the base material. The erosion wear behaviours of the specimens were investigated using an air jet erosion tester at 30 and 90° impact angles and 400 ± 25 °C temperature. The surface morphologies of the as-deposited and eroded samples were examined using the Scanning electron microscope. The NiCrSiBCFe-WC-Co ceramic coating deposited on SA213-T17 boiler steel exhibited superior erosion resistance compared to NiCrSiBCFe-Cr 3 C 2 -NiCr coating and boiler steel under all the tested conditions. This enhanced performance can primarily be attributed to the higher hardness of the NiCrSiBCFe-WC-Co coating due to the presence of harder phases such as WC, W 2 C and NiCo 2 O 4 .