Wear characterization of thermal spray welded Ni–Cr–B–Si–RE alloy coatings

The present contribution reports the tribological properties of Ni–Cr–B–Si–RE alloy coatings, thermal spray welded onto steel substrate. A study was conducted that characterized the critical normal loads and sliding speed on the wear behavior of a Ni–Cr–B–Si–RE alloy. The worn surfaces of the Ni–Cr–B–Si–RE alloy coatings were examined with a field emission gun scanning electron microscopy (FEGSEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results show that an adhered oxide debris layer was formed on the worn surface in friction which contributed to decreased wear. Wear rate of the coatings increased with the load, but decreased with the sliding speed in the range of 0.02–0.08 m/s, then increases a little at 0.1 m/s sliding speed. The average friction coefficient is about 0.48, and decreased with the load, but increased with sliding speed at first, and then tended to slight decrease. Wear mechanism is dominated by a large amount of counterpart material transferred to the coating.