The role of microstructure in the mechanism of high velocity erosion of Cr3C2–NiCr thermal spray coatings: Part 2 — Heat treated coatings

In Part 1 of this two part series the variation in erosion mechanisms as a function of as-sprayed coating microstructure was presented. The oxidation resistance of Cr3C2–NiCr coatings means that they are used in high temperature applications where WC–Co based systems are no longer suitable. High temperature exposure has been shown to generate microstructural development in these coatings, leading to variations in coating hardness. In this work the effect of such coating development on the high velocity erosion response is investigated. The HVAF and HVOF coatings of Part 1 were heat treated for up to 30 days at 900 °C to generate a range of coating microstructures up to steady state. Erosion was performed under the same conditions as in Part 1. Heat treatment increased the ductility of the NiCr phase, enabling ductile erosion deformation to occur. Intersplat sintering reduced the significance of splat based erosion mechanisms and forced mass loss to become dictated by the phase microstructure. Such developments improved the quantified erosion resistance of both coating systems relative to the as-sprayed conditions. The coating microhardness was shown to be a poor indicator of erosion response across the range of coating microstructures investigated.