CAVITATION EROSION BEHAVIOR OF WC–Co COATINGS ON TURBINE STEEL DEPOSITED BY COLD SPRAY

Abstract

A renowned hard coating material (WC–Co) has the potential to overcome cavitation erosion (CE) in hydromachinery components. Hydro turbines that employ silt-filled water for electricity generation create a lot of metal waste due to erosion and cavitation caused by the particles. There is an urgent need for repair of hydropower components that have undergone damage due to cavitation. In this investigation, tungsten carbide composite coatings were produced on 13Cr4Ni (CA6NM) stainless steel substrates using the cold spray method. In order to create high-quality coatings, nitrogen was used as the propellant gas. The coating microstructures were characterized by EDS, SEM XRD, and microhardness tests. Cold-sprayed WC–Co-based coatings were exposed to enhance the cavitation erosion resistance of CA6NM steel. Cold spray coating prepared with WC-12/17Co powder has shown excellent wear-resistant properties due to higher hardness and lower porosity.