Erosion, abrasive, and friction wear behavior of iron aluminide coatings sprayed by HVOF

Iron aluminides have been proposed lately as promising materials for wear applications. Many authors have focused their investigations on the friction behavior of FeAl coatings, emphasizing the role of this intermetallic phase as a new matrix to embed ceramic particles and replace the extensively studied WC-Co cermet system for high temperature. However, few of these studies deal with the evaluation of the different tribological properties and their relationship with the coating microstructure. In the present study, the near stoichometric Fe40Al was successfully sprayed by means of high velocity oxy-fuel using different particle size distribution and the tribological behavior was assessed through solid particle erosion, abrasive and dry sliding tests. The wear mechanisms of the deposited coatings are discussed with regard to the observed results. In addition, oxidized samples were tested to evaluate the role of the oxide top layer; also, the powder was previously annealed to produce a coating with an almost fully ordered FeAl structure.