Influence of ball material on the resulting fatigue life of thermal sprayed HVOF coatings in dynamic impact testing

Abstract

Dynamic impact wear, i.e. contact between two components in the presence of high cyclic local loads, is a challenging failure mode that occurs in many mechanical applications. Many previous studies have confirmed that dynamic impact testing is suitable for evaluating the contact fatigue of thermal sprayed coatings. However, the effect of the test parameters on the resulting lifetime is unclear. The aim of this study describes the effect of the ball material used in the dynamic impact test on the resulting fatigue life of the HVOF thermal sprayed coating. Three test balls made of WC/Co alloy, Si3N4 silicon nitride and 440 C steel were chosen for this study. Dynamic impaction testing was carried out on the Cr3C2-NiCr coating, which was sprayed by HVOF on a 1.2376 high-speed steel substrate. The impact lifetime was described by the number of critical impacts, i.e. the number of impacts before coating fatigue occurs. Furthermore, the depth and volume of impact craters were measured. Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the surface of the impacts as well as the microstructure of the coating on the cross-section in the region of the impacts were observed. Furthermore, the mechanism of crack propagation in the coating and the microstructure of the indentor were investigated.