High temperature tribology behaviors of brush plated Ni–W–Co/SiC composite coating

The high temperature wear behavior of Ni–W–Co/SiC composite brush plated coatings deposited on a hot work die steel has been investigated using a plate-on-ring test rig. The microstructure and wear characteristics of coating have been analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that typical microstructure of Ni–W–Co/SiC composite coating consists of Ni-based solid solution and SiC particles. The TEM observation of Ni–W–Co/SiC composite coating has revealed the fine SiC particles of nano-size in the brush plated coatings and the matrix of Ni–W–Co plated coating is composed of a mixed crystalline and amorphous structure. The worn surface morphology of the plated coating is observed by SEM and laser profile analysis. In the temperature range 400–600 °C, wear rate and average friction coefficient of the Ni–W–Co/SiC brush plated composite coatings are lower than that of the 3Cr2W8V (ASTM H21) hot work die steel. Abrasive and adhesive wears are the major wear mechanisms of brush plated composite coating at high temperature.