Fatigue behavior of a 4140 steel coated with a NiMoAl deposit applied by HVOF thermal spray

The fatigue behavior of a quenched and tempered AISI 4140 steel has been investigated in three different conditions: as-polished, as-grit blasted with Al2O3 particles and as-coated, after grit blasting, with a deposit of Ni–Al–Mo alloy (Metco 447) of approximately 300 μm in thickness, applied by HVOF thermal spraying. It has been determined that after grit blasting with particles of 20 mesh (83 μm) at a pressure of 345 kPa, a significant decrease in the fatigue properties of the material takes place. It has also been observed that such particles, are retained at the substrate surface during blasting and become stress concentrators that enhance the nucleation of fatigue cracks. The latter give rise to a decrease in the fatigue strength of the blasted material. Further coating of the grit blasted specimens with a deposit of Metco 447 of approximately 300 μm thick, applied by HVOF thermal spraying, leads to a further reduction in the fatigue strength of the material. Under these conditions, the fatigue cracks are also nucleated at the alumina particles retained after blasting. It is believed that such a further decrease is mainly associated with two different causes. Firstly, the extensive fracture and delamination of the coating from the substrate which has been observed from the microscopic analysis. Secondly, the possible existence of tensile residual stresses in the substrate, in the vicinity of the substrate–deposit interface, which would assist in the propagation of the fatigue cracks nucleated at the alumina particles. The fatigue properties of the steel substrate in the three different conditions investigated, has been described in terms of the simple parametric relationship earlier proposed by Basquin.