Developement of Iron-Based Wire Feedstocks and Their Processing by Electric Arc Spraying

Iron based wire feedstocks can represent a technical as well as economical alternative to conventional carbide reinforced feedstocks for wear protection applications. Within the frame of this work, different iron based feedstocks were developed as cored wires. In order to produce wear resistant coatings, the wires contain up to 6 wt.-% of boron. When processed by thermal spraying, these feedstocks form hard, partially amorphous coatings with embedded nanocrystalline boridic precipitations. In order to further improve the wear resistance, for some wires chromium carbide was blended into the powder filling. Coatings were produced from all feedstocks by electric arc spraying. The coatings were investigated by light optical microscopy, XRD, transmission electron microscopy and hardness measuring.  In order to compare the coatings amongst each other with regard to their wear behaviour, the coatings were tested on a pin-on-disc tribometer.