WC-Co/Al Multilayer Coatings by Warm Spray Deposition

WC-Co/aluminum multilayer coatings have been developed by using warm spray deposition to improve fracture toughness and damage tolerance of conventional WC-Co coatings and to investigate the effects of ductile layer addition on their fracture properties. Prior to depositing the multilayer coatings, the mechanical properties of three metal coatings of aluminum, copper, and titanium, which were deposited by warm spraying, were evaluated. The aluminum coating showed excellent ductility among them and was selected for use as ductile layers for the multilayer coatings. The fracture behavior of WC-Co/Al coatings was examined by the four-point bending test. The multilayer coatings did not break in a brittle manner after reaching maximum load, but exhibited a plateau as a result of the ductility of the aluminum layers. The fracture behavior was compared with the finite element analysis results, and they showed good agreement in a general trend. It has been concluded that ductile metal reinforcements, by advanced thermal spray techniques such as warm spray deposition, are very effective to enhance the toughness and damage tolerance of sprayed cermet coatings.