Tribological behaviour of WC-10Co4Cr coated slurry pipe materials

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims at erosion wear experimentation conducted on two piping materials, namely SS202 and SS304 to establish the effect of rotational speed, concentration and time period. Design/methodology/approach Erosion wear because of slurry flow is investigated using a slurry erosion pot tester. Fly ash is taken as erodent material having different solid concentrations lie in range 30 to 60per cent (by weight). Experiments are performed at four different speeds, i.e. 600; 900; 1,200; and 1,500 rpm for time duration of 90, 120, 150 and 180 min, respectively. To enhance erosion wear resistance of both piping materials, high-velocity-oxy-fuel coating technique is used to deposit WC-10Co4Cr coating. The parametric influence of erosion wear is optimized using Taguchi method. Findings The results show that significant improvement in erosion wear resistance is observed by deposition of WC-10Co4Cr coating. It is observed that rotational speed is found as highly influencing parameter followed by concentration and time duration. Parametric investigation of erosion wear is helpful to develop a procedure for minimizing the erosion wear in pipeline for the flow of solid-liquid mixture. Originality/value Slurry erosion wear of WC-10Co4Cr coated stainless steel (SS202 and SS304) is substantiated by extensive microstructural analysis and optimization technique.