An exhaustive hardness characterization and comparative evaluation of
the dry wear performance of three different wear-resistant coating sys
tems (alumina-titania, WC-Co, and Ni-Cr on a carbon steel substrate) m
ated against a normalized 0.3% carbon steel are presented. The WC-Co c
oating was found to be the most wear resistant, followed by the alumin
a-titania and NiCr-based coatings.