Influence of Erosion Time on HVOF-Sprayed Cermet Coating: Preliminary Study
摘要
The vast majority of hard coatings are known for their abrasion resistance. They provide excellent protection against both water erosion and solid particle abrasion. These coatings represent the option on how to protect the substrate in many areas of industrial applications. However, the possible resistance of the coating to the adverse conditions of high-frequency water droplets is still not well investigated. This study deals with the assessment of erosion resistance of WC-CrC-Ni cermet coatings against multiple water droplet impingements. Water droplets were generated using an ultrasonic pulsating water jet with a nominal frequency of 40 kHz. The cermet coating was subjected to different exposure times to assess erosion development and evaluate the integrity of the coating with the substrate. To provide a comparison, the samples were also subjected to continuous water jet utilizing the same conditions. The erosion pits were examined using optical microscopy and digital image analysis for general observations, while electron microscopy was utilized to identify the mechanisms of erosion. The shape, depth, and volume of the pits were measured using a confocal laser scanning microscope to evaluate the intensity of the damage caused by both continuous and discontinuous water jets. The effect of increasing time exposure of the pulsating water jet was evaluated and recalculated to the number of droplet impingements.