Study on the wear resistance of vacuumfusion sintering (VFS) WC/Co composite coatings on 45 steel

The WC-Co composite coatings bonded firmly with the steel substrate were prepared by vacuum fusion sintering(VFS).The microstructure and morphology of the VFS coatings were observed and analyzed by SEM,X-ray diffractory and mi-cro-hardness tester.Aseries of tests on the cobalt based VFS coatings of different tungsten carbide percent was performed by apin-on-disc friction and wear machine.The results showthat the wear resistance of the cobalt based VFS coatings,whether dryor wet friction,is prior to that of the 45 hardened steel,and that the higher the tungsten carbide percent,the better the wear re-sistance.The wear resistance of the hardened steel decreases greatly,whereas that of the VFS coating varies slightly when theloads increase.The VFS coatings are identified by their properties,such as high hardness,high-temperature strength,wear re-sistance,and high bond strength to the substrate.