Investigation of cold-sprayed WC-FeAl cermet coatings formation and properties

In this paper, WC/Fe(Al) solid solution composite powder with different volume fraction of WC ceramic particles was prepared by mechanical alloying of WC/Fe/Al powder blends and FeAl/WC intermetallic matrix coating was successfully fabricated by cold spraying of ball-milled composite powder and assisted by post spraying annealing treatment. The effect of WC content and annealing treatment on the microstructure evolution and properties such as microhardness, fracture toughness and wear performance were investigated. The results showed that the microstructure of WC-FeAl cermet coatings was improved with increasing annealing temperature. The microhardness of WC-FeAl coatings increased with increasing WC content and gradually decreased over 850^oC. The fracture toughness were significantly improved with raising annealing temperature and decreased with increasing WC ceramic particles content. The WC content and annealing temperature on the microstructure and wear performance of WC-FeAl cermet coatings was also investigated.