Structural and tribological properties of supersonic sprayed Fe–Cu–Al–Al2O3 nanostructured cermets

A nanostructured cermet coating consisting of alumina dispersed in a Fe–Cu–Al matrix was deposited by supersonic spraying. The experiments revealed a strong effect of deposition parameters and chemical composition of the powders on the structural characteristics of the Fe–Cu–Al + Al2O3 sprayed cermet. This cermet is made up of complex metallurgical phases as revealed by electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The mechanical properties of the different phases detected were determined by nanoindentation. Finally, the friction and wear behavior of this nanostructured sprayed cermet were compared to the ones of benchmark materials. It was found that the Fe–Cu–Al + Al2O3 cermet coating exhibit better tribological properties than the benchmark materials thanks to an appropriate balance of hard and soft phases, and a nanostructuring. The wear mechanism was investigated to establish a ‘structure–property’ relationship for this type of nanostructured cermet coatings.