On the Wear Response of Ni-B-TiO2 Composite Coating Against Sliding of Barite Counterparts

Wear poses a significant challenge in various industries, particularly in mineral industries that rely largely on crusher machines. Within this sector, crusher hammers are among the components most susceptible to severe wear due to repetitive impact and abrasion during crushing operations. In this study, a Ni-B-TiO2 composite coating is electrodeposited onto heat-treated P20 mold steel to enhance the wear resistance of these hammers. To better replicate the elements of the tribosystem at the laboratory scale, the investigated coating undergoes repetitive sliding with both hemisphere- and cone-shaped counterparts, made from barite rocks, using a reciprocating sliding wear test. The findings reveal that, despite being much softer than the coating surface, barite counterparts effectively induce wear on the Ni-B-TiO2 coating and experience material loss during the wear test. The influence of counterpart geometry on the wear behavior of the coating surface is notable, especially for longer sliding durations. Compared with the hemisphere-shaped counterpart, the cone-shaped counterpart results in greater wear on the coating surface, which progressively increases with sliding time. In contrast, the hemisphere-shaped counterpart reduces by half the wear of coating while allowing for nearly steady-state wear damage as sliding time increases.