Friction and wear characteristics of aluminum bronze coatings on steel substrates sprayed by a low pressure plasma technique

In the present research work, the tribological characteristics of low press ure plasma sprayed aluminum bronze coatings against steel ball (SUJ2), have been studied. The effects of different loads, as well as high speed and bo undary lubrication conditions, have been examined using the sliding tester. The films were synthesized using a low-pressure plasma spraying technique u nder different operating conditions. The correlation between the processing variables and the tribological characteristics of the resulting aluminum b ronze coatings has been studied. Optical and scanning electron microscopy w as employed to evaluate the morphology of the coating's microstructures. Th e depths of the wear tracks were evaluated using surface texture instrument . The results indicate that under optimum operating conditions, the test samp les exhibit a dense microstructure with a high hardness, low coefficient of friction and high wear resistance. Moreover, the strength of the interface between the film and the substrate was found to be adequate for many indus trial applications. The range of optimum operating conditions has also been identified. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.