Wear Analysis of Thermal Spray Coatings on 3D Surfaces

Even though the application of thermal spray coatings on complex geometries gained a greater interest in the last decade, the effect of different geometrical features on the wear behavior is still ill-defined. In this study, the wear resistance of FTC-FeCSiMn coated 3D surfaces was investigated. The wear test was carried out by means of two innovative testing procedures. The first test is a Pin-on-Tubes test where the rotating motion is realized by a lathe chuck. The specimens in the second test were fixed on the table and a robot arm operated the pin. This wear test was applied on specimens with concave or convex surfaces. The residual stresses, which were determined by means of an incremental hole-drilling method, show a dependency on the substrate geometry. The obtained stresses were put in relation to the different radii. After the wear test, a 3D-profilometer determined the wear volume and the sections of the coatings were characterized by a scanning electron microscope. The results indicate that the wear resistance is strongly influenced by the geometry of the substrate.