Performance analysis of erosion resistant Mo₂C reinforced WC-CoCr coating for pump impeller with Taguchi’s method

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to deal with development and performance analysis of high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) thermally sprayed Mo₂C-based WC-CoCr (tungsten carbine cobalt chrome) (Co-10% and Cr-4%) cermet coating deposited on the pump impeller steel 316 L.

Design/methodology/approach

In this work, a study was carried out by modifying the conventional WC-CoCr powder with a small addition of molybdenum carbide (Mo₂C). Reinforcement was done by 1–4 wt.% addition of Mo₂C feedstocks in WC-CoCr powder by using a jar ball mill process. The design of experiment was implemented for optimization of the percentage of Mo₂C feedstock. L16 (4 × 4) orthogonal array was used to design the experiments for erosion output for the input parameters namely velocity, particle size, concentration and Mo₂C proportion.

Findings

Results show that the Mo₂C-based WC-CoCr coating provides better microhardness as compared to conventional WC-CoCr coating. The present study also reveals that the deposition of conventional WC-CoCr coating has improved the wear resistance of SS 316 L by 9.98%. However, the slurry erosion performance of conventional WC-CoCr coating was improved as 69.6% by the addition of 3% Mo₂C.

Practical implications

WC-CoCr coatings are universally used for protecting the equipment and machinery from abrasion, erosion and corrosion. So, the 3% Mo₂C-based WC-CoCr can be useful in power plants and various industries like mining, chemical, automobile, cementing and food processing industries.

Originality/value

A new HVOF coating has been developed by the addition of Mo₂C feedstock in WC-CoCr powder (Co 10% and Cr 4%) and the percentage of Mo₂C feedstock was optimized to improve the tribological behavior of WC-CoCr coating.

Citation

Singh, J. and Singh, J.P. (2022), "Performance analysis of erosion resistant Mo₂C reinforced WC-CoCr coating for pump impeller with Taguchi’s method", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 74 No. 4, pp. 431-441. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILT-05-2020-0155