Analysis of physical and mechanical properties of Galvanic-plasma wear-resistant coatings

Abstract This article shows the possibility of creating highly-hard protective wear-resistant and heat-shielding coatings by the Galvanic-plasma method (GPM) on the AlSi12Cu aluminum alloy. The combination of influencing parameters during processing allows one way or another to influence the set of quality indicators of coatings, such as the thickness of the coating layer, microhardness, porosity, phase and elemental composition. The influence of technological modes and electrolyte composition on the structure and composition of the resulting coating has been established. Investigated the structural features of the modified layers, established the effect of the capacitor capacitance of the installation and the duration of treatment on the structure and microhardness of the resulting coatings. The tribological properties of the different GPM surfaces had been evaluated the usage of the ‘reciprocating pin-on-disk’ method. Different current densities were chosen so as to represent the arrangement component of the GPM layer. Wear test results were used to evaluate the wear resistance ability of the various GPM layers for establishing a wear model. The surface morphology, porosity distribution on cross-section, and worn surface of the GPM layers were characterized using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Different material counterparts and contact conditions were applied to simulate a variety of practical scenarios. The results show that the hardness of the GPM layer formed specimen NO.5 was the highest among the five kinds of specimens, and the GPM layer formed at the condition had the best wear resistance. This can be ascribed to the different size and appropriation of the pores and the diverse proportion of α to the γ stage in the PMG layers when exposed to various boundaries during the GPM cycle.