Research into the Structure and Adhesion of WCCoCr Coatings Plasma-Sprayed onto Castings of AlSi Alloy Plates

The article presents structural investigations and mechanical properties of hard coatings deposited by spraying WCCoCr powder in an argon-hydrogen plasma jet onto the surfaces of AlSi10Mg alloy casting plates. Two variants (A and B) of processing parameters of the powder spraying process onto the surface of silumin plates were applied, resulting in different coating thickness. The coating applied according to variant A was done with 12 passes, and its thickness was approximately 150 μm. The coating applied according to variant B was done with 20 passes, and its thickness was about 320 μm. The microstructures of these coatings are similar, consisting of wavy, alternately deposited phases of solid solutions with varying concentrations of elements, and fine spherical phases, irregularly dispersed carbides. A qualitative analysis of the distribution of microstructure components was performed based on surface mapping. Precipitates differing in their degree of grayness and shape were identified based on microanalysis of their chemical composition. The porosity assessment of coatings performed in five randomly selected areas amounts to an average of 9%. The applied coatings exhibit good adhesion to the substrate, as evidenced by the absence of delamination during scratching tests using a diamond Rockwell indenter loaded with a force of 10 N. The coating hardness averaged 1180HV0.2. The test results indicate the high quality of the WCCoCr coatings, regardless of their thickness.