Properties of wear-resistant coatings of eutectic chromium-carbide alloys

The increased hardness and wear resistance of electric-spark coatings compared with thermally sprayed ones is due to the presence of oxide and nitride phases in the alloyed layer, whose phase composition — unlike that of a thermally sprayed layer — is not identical with the starting phase composition. The presence of a secondary structure on the working surface of the electrode in ESA and its role in the formation of the alloyed layer have been established.