Mechanism of Cavitation Wear of a Low-Friction Composite Coating CrN+WC/C Deposed on Ferritic-Pearlitic P265GH and Austenitic X2CrNi18-9 (304L) Steels

Abstract

In order to meet the expectations of the global industry in areas such as: energy, heating, aviation, automotive, railway, chemical, petrochemical, oil, gas, river and marine sectors, where material wear processes may occur due to the flow of water gas and steam or their mixtures with various degree of saturation at different pressures, the authors of this article have conducted research on the resistance to cavitation wear of a low-friction composite anti-wear PVD coating in the form of chromium nitride and tungsten carbide (CrN+WC/C) deposited by a physical method on the surface of structural elements in the form of cavitation generators operating in extreme conditions of cavitation wear. Structural elements were examined made of steel with the ferritic-perlitic structure of the P265GH grade and with the austenitic chromium-nickel structure of the X2CrNi18-9 (304L) grade with a protective composite low-friction coating applied onto their surfaces by the Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) technique, intended for operation in the cavitation wear environment. In order to obtain the results, the investigations of mass loss and roughness profile changes were conducted and the analysis of structural-metallographic morphology changes on the surfaces of structural elements was performed using a scanning electron microscope at voltages accelerating from 5 to 20kV using secondary electrons detection. The results of cavitation wear on the surface of structural elements were obtained using a digital microscope operating in 4K technology with a progressive scanning system.