An experimental study on synthesizing TiC–TiB2–Ni composite coating using electro-thermal explosion ultra-high speed spraying method

Abstract The synthesis of TiC–TiB2–Ni composite coating on steel substrate using electro-thermal explosion ultra-high speed spraying (EEUSS) method has been investigated. The coating exhibits a compact microstructure and good interface bonding. TiC–TiB2–Ni coating consists of TiC, TiB2, Ni, as well as the residual C. Microstructure characterization reveals micro-sized clubbed TiB2 particles with the length of 5–10 µm and submicron-sized spherical TiC particles with the average diameter of 1 µm and these different morphologies are due to their respective crystal structure. The average hardness value for TiC–10TiB2–Ni and TiC–20TiB2–Ni are HV0.3 1800 and HV0.3 2000.