Investigation of Mechanical Properties of Coatings and Bulk Components of Various Grain Sized Tungsten-Carbide-Cobalt Based Materials

Thermal sprayed coatings produced from ultrafine, near-nano and nano grained powders are believed to provide improved properties as compared to conventional (micron size) powders.  These ultrafine, near-nano and nano grained materials show significant potential for applications in the aerospace industry, as well as energy and a great many other industries.  A study is proposed to investigate the influence of grain size on the wear and mechanical properties by examining ultrafine, near-nano and nano sized materials.  Powders and coatings as well as consolidated forms of tungsten-carbide-cobalt-chromium (WC-Co-Cr) and tungsten-carbide-cobalt (WC-Co) materials will be examined.  Thermal spray coatings will be produced of carbides of several different grain sizes using high velocity oxygen-fuel (HVOF) thermal spray processing.  Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) will be used to provide consolidated forms of these materials.  An examination of the thermal sprayed coatings will be conducted using mechanical property testing, wear testing and metallurgical analysis.  A comparison will be made of the influence of grain size in thermal spray coatings as well as that of bulk consolidated materials using these materials.