Wear behavior of Ni/WC surface-infiltrated composite coating on copper substrate

Ni/WC surface-infiltrated composite coating was fabricated on copper alloy substrate through vacuum infiltration casting using Ni-based alloying powder and with different WC particle contents as raw materials. The wear behavior of Ni/WC surface-infiltrated composite coating was investigated using a block-on-ring tester at different loads and sliding speeds at room temperature. Results show that the wear rate of Ni/WC surface-infiltrated composite coating decreased to approximately one-sixth of the wear rate of the Ni-based alloy infiltrated coating. This phenomenon resulted from the supporting function of WC particles under varying loads applied on the specimen surface and the antifriction effect of the transformation layer. Wear rate was reduced by the Ni/WC-infiltrated composite coating with increasing load, especially when the load exceeded 100 N. The friction coefficient decreased with increasing sliding speed for all infiltrated coatings at any load condition. The reduction in the friction coefficient at high sliding speed was larger than that at low sliding speed with increasing load. The wear mechanism was dominated by oxidation under all experimental conditions and accompanied by adhesion and abrasion mechanisms at high load and high sliding speed.