Wear Characteristics of Tungsten-Carbide Coatings

David L. Redman, Master’s Student, Mechanical Engineering

Honorable Mention, Student Research Colloquium 2001

 

A common application of thermal spray coatings is on aircraft landing gear parts. Aircraft landing gear parts have some amount of corrosion and wear that need to be minimized. One method to do this has been to use chrome platings. However, due to environmental regulations, alternatives have been sought to replace chrome plating. As a result, thermal spray coatings are being evaluated for possible replacement of chrome plating. Thermal spray coatings are used to provide parts with corrosion resistance, dimensional restoration, and wear resistance. A common thermal spray coating is a Tungsten-Carbide coating applied by a High Velocity Oxy Fuel (HVOF) thermal spray process. Corrosion resistance and dimensional restoration are being researched by others while wear resistance is the topic of this project. Wear characteristics are determined by performing a wear test according to ASTM G66 standards and analyzing the parts for volume removal, amorphous material, and decarburization.