Reducing Wear by Using Powder Coatings

Thermal spray powder coatings have and are used in a very broad range of wear resisting surfaces and for the repair of wear resisting surfaces. The main advantage being that thermal spray coating can provide the surface properties and the component substrate material can be chosen from the bulk requirements be it strength, weight or cost without the need to consider it’s inherent wear resistance or other surface properties.

Selection of the best coating for an application is not often straight forward. Selection based on hardness or from standard wear testing would indicate coatings like HVOF tungsten carbide/cobalt, plasma sprayed chromium oxide ceramic or fused coatings as giving the ultimate performance. Indeed, these coatings do provide the best solution to many applications, but they are certainly not universally suited to all applications. Other factors must be considered:

Cost, Life expectancy, Corrosion, Counter surface ,Effect of process on substrate material, Surface finish or profile ,Temperature, Lubrication ,Abrasives, Loads and speeds, Impact, shock or fatigue, Ability to work harden ,Severity and angle of attack, Coefficient of friction ,Porosity