Role of Third Bodies in Friction and Wear of Cold-Sprayed Ti and Ti-TiC Composite Coatings

Titanium (Ti) and Ti-based alloy wear performance is often poor unless coating or lubricants are used. An alternative is to use hard phase reinforcement. Cold spray is a relatively new method to deposit composite coatings, where here we report the deposition of a Ti-TiC coating and its sliding wear behavior. Mixtures of mechanically blended Ti-TiC with various TiC content were injected into a de Laval nozzle and sprayed onto substrates. Two composite coatings and a pure Ti coating are reported here, where the as-sprayed compositions of the composites were 13.8 and 33.4 vol% TiC. Reciprocating dry sliding wear was performed using a custom-built in situ tribometer. All tests were conducted with a sliding speed of 3 mm/s and at a normal load of 0.5 N. Using a transparent sapphire hemisphere of 6.25 mm as counterface, dynamic behavior of third bodies was directly observed. It was found that adhesive transfer of Ti was the primary wear mechanism for the Ti coating, with oxidative and abrasive wear also occurring for longer sliding cycles. The superior wear resistance of the composite coatings compared to Ti was related to dual function of TiC particles, where they reinforced the Ti matrix and facilitated the formation of a stable and protective tribofilms. The tribofilms contained carbonaceous material that provided easier shear and lower friction. The formation of these tribofilms was highly dependent on the TiC particles, which contained excess carbon compared to the equilibrium composition. Higher TiC content was more effective in quickly developing and sustaining the tribofilms.