Journal of Advanced Materials in Engineering (Esteghlal)

Ni–SiC composite coatings are successfully employed as a protective coating in the inner walls of engine cylinders. In this study, Ni-SiC, Ni-SiC-MoS2 and Ni-SiC-Gr composite coatings were prepared from a sulfamate bath. Both mechanical and ultrasonic stirring were used simultaneously during the process. Taking into account the working temperature of engine cylinders, the wear behavior of coatings was evaluated at 25 to 300 ºC and the high temperature tribological properties of the coatings were investigated. Based on the results obtained from the wear tests, all three coatings showed almost good friction coefficient values at 25 and 100 ºC, which were close to each other. By increasing the temperature to 200-300 °C, the friction coefficient and weight loss values strongly increased. However, addition of solid lubricants caused the values to decrease. The Ni-SiC-Gr coating at all temperatures showed a good and stable behavior.

In this study, creation of a silicon aluminide coating on IN738LC nickel-based superalloy has been investigated, using co-deposition process. Thermochemical calculations indicated the possibility of obtaining a silicon aluminide with NH₄Cl activated pack powder at 900°C, in order to achieve coating with desirable structures. Two powder mixtures with nominal compositions of 7Si-14Al-(1-3) NH₄Cl-Al₂O₃ (wt. %) and 16Si-4Al-(1-3) NH₄Cl-Al₂O₃ (4 and 0.5 Si/Al ratios, respectively) were used. According to the results, both coatings showed multi-layered structures containing AlNi₂Si as dominant phase. In coating created by pack powder with Si/Al ratio of 0.5, a porous and brittle layer of NiSi was formed on the surface which deteriorated the mechanical properties of coating to some extent. It was found that inward diffusion of Al was dominant at the first stage, while afterward, inward diffusion of Si led to conversion of NiAl phase to AlNi₂Si and, finally, to NiSi phase. Eventually, the sample coated by Si/Al=4, showed superior microstructural characteristics, containing desirable AlNi₂Si phase without undesirable brittle NiSi phase.