Tribological properties of nanostructured WC/CoNi and WC/CoNiP coatings produced by electro-deposition

In this paper, an unique environmentally friendly electroplating process of hardfacing nanostructured WC/CoNi or WC/CoNiP coatings was developed. In the coatings, the nanophase WC particles are uniformly dispersed in a cobalt–nickel or a cobalt–nickel–phosphorus matrix, resulting in a “near net coating” with high hardness (650–850 VHN), low coefficient of friction (0.1–0.31), low wear rate (0.41×10−5 mm3/N m), and smooth as-coated surface (0.7 μm). This new coating technology is anticipated to emerge as a next generation high performance coating replacing electroplated hard chromium and thermal sprayed WC/Co for specific applications.