Fatigue resistance of plasma-sprayed CrC–NiCr cermet coatings in rolling contact

Abstract The aim of this paper was to address the fatigue behavior and failure modes of plasma-sprayed CrC–NiCr cermet coatings in rolling contact under the identical tribological conditions of contact stress at room temperature. For all tests, the thicknesses of the coatings were controlled to be about 100 μm. Thirteen rolling contact tests were performed to obtain the statistical result. The Weibull distribution plot of fatigue-life data of the coating specimens was obtained. The failure modes and mechanisms of the coatings were studied on the basis of the worn surface observations of the failed coatings. Experiment results showed that the RCF life data of the coatings exhibited high scattering, since the bimodal distribution of the fatigue-life data of the coatings was observed in the Weibull plot. Different failure modes named as spalling and delamination were observed during this investigation. However, the failure modes might be associated with the microstructure and the bonding strength of the coating, and the distribution of shear stress at the subsurface. The coatings failed in the spalling generally exhibited the relatively high fatigue lives and the coatings failed in the delamination exhibited low lives, resulting in the bimodal distribution of the fatigue-life data in the Weibull plot.