Study of ZrO₂ Content on Hardness and Wear Characteristic of Coatings

Abstract

Aluminum alloy has limited its application due to low hardness and poor wear resistance. Therefore, surface modification by electroplating is beneficial to improving hardness and wear resistance properties. Hence, Ni/W–ZrO2 coating was organized on aluminum alloy by electro-deposition method in this paper. The optimum organization parameters were obtained. The impact of different ZrO2 additions on the hardness and friction wear properties of Ni/W–ZrO2 coatings were further investigated. The SEM, Vickers examiner and wear examination are used to analyze the micromorphology, micro-hardness as well as friction and wear resistance properties, respectively. The results show that when the addition of ZrO2 was 40g/L in the deposition bath, the Ni/W–ZrO2 coating possesses the optimum micro-hardness of 384HV. This is mainly attribute to the dispersion-enhancing effect of ceramic particles. This work offers a new approach to surface strengthening technology for aluminum alloys.