Cavitation erosion resistance of microarc oxidation coating on aluminium alloy

Two ceramic coatings are prepared on 2124 aluminum alloy by microarc oxidation (MAO) technology. To explore the cavitation erosion resistance of the MAO coating, cavitation tests were performed by using a rotating-disk test rig. The mass losses, surface morphologies, chemical compositions and the phase constituents of the samples after cavitation tests were examined by using digital balance, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. The results indicate that the MAO coatings can extend the incubation period of aluminum alloy, and thus enhance the cavitation erosion resistance as compared to the untreated aluminum alloy samples. After duration of 63 h cavitation test, a lot of erosion pits and the particles in various shapes can be observed on the surfaces of the aluminum alloy samples, while only a few erosion pits are observed on the MAO coatings. Moreover, the mean depths of erosion on the MAO coatings are lower in the first 30 h and are independent on erosion time. The results show that the cavitation erosion of MAO coating is governed by water mechanical impaction, resulting from the effects of brittle fracture of the MAO coating.