Microstructure and Tribological Properties of Micro-arc Oxidation TiO2 Coating Before and After SiC Particles Incorporation

Abstract

In this work, porous TiO2 coating was fabricated on the surface of commercially pure titanium using the micro-arc oxidation (MAO) technique, and the effect of SiC particles incorporation on the microstructure and tribological properties of MAO TiO2 coating was investigated. Results show that submicron SiC particles dispersed in the MAO electrolyte were incorporated into the TiO2 coating during the MAO process and the fabricated TiO2/SiC composite coating mainly consisted of rutile, anatase and SiC phases. The pore size and surface roughness of TiO2/SiC composite coating decreased with the increasing addition amount of SiC particles in the electrolyte. Furthermore, the incorporation of SiC particles in the TiO2 coating suppressed the initiation and propagation of micro-cracks. The tribological test of coatings against GCr15 stainless steel balls show that the incorporation of submicron SiC particles in the MAO TiO2 coating decreased the friction coefficient and wear rate. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ms.25.3.20089