The method of electrical discharge coating with TiC 4 ceramic layer in an ordinary electrical discharge machining (EDM) tool was studied. TiC 4 ceramic layer was deposited on No. 45 carbon steel substrate by EDM technique. TiC 4 ceramic coatings with different contents of lanthanum oxide were fabricated on No. 45 carbon steel substrate. The microstructures of the clad coatings were examined and tested for chemical composition, phase structure, friction and wear properties. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, hardness testing, block on ring friction and wear testing were carried out separately. Experimental results show that TiC 4 ceramic coating can be deposited on a substrate of carbon steel, and the electrode doped with rare earth lanthanum oxide helps to refine coating's microstructure and enhance the coating's density. When the content of lanthanum oxide is increased to 0?5%, the clad coating shows the best antiwear ability, wear resistance can be increased by three times and the friction coefficient can be decreased by 10%. If the content of lanthanum oxide exceeds that proportion, the coating's wear resistance decreases significantly.
IntroductionCeramic coating will play an increasingly important role in cutting tools and dies because of its high hardness and thermal stability, excellent antiwear and antioxidation properties, etc. 1 Presently, there are many process technologies of clad ceramic coating, which are surface spraying, laser clad coating, physical and chemical vapor deposit, plasma spraying, etc. However, high brittleness, easy cracking and spalling are the critical factors that always affect the application of the ceramic layer directly. The shape of the ceramic layers produced by those process technologies cannot be controlled easily. The method of electrical discharge coating can fabricate TiC 4 ceramic layer in an ordinary electrical discharge machining (EDM) tool. This method uses an electrical spark to produce high energy, which can melt the process electrode that is made of powder mixture with low thermal conductivity, such as TiC 4 and WC powders. The coating's shape and thickness can be controlled directly according to the shape of electrode and processing time. The content of the ceramic coating can be adjusted by a change in the composition of the electrode. This method meets the requirements of clad ceramic coating in dies and cutting tools with low cost and low surface roughness. The thickness of the coating can be adjusted between 0 and 20 mm. [2][3][4] Rare earths have some effects on improvement of the structure of the ceramic layer and enhancement of the sliding wear properties. Some researchers found that with rare earths doping, the ceramic hardness and brittleness can be improved. In order to increase the antiwear properties and improve the brittleness of the ceramic layer, the authors take advantage of the catalysis effects of rare earths. Rare earth lanthanum oxide powders with different contents of lanthanum oxide were used to make the pr...