International Conference on Advancements and Futuristic Trends in Mechanical and Materials Engineering (October 5-7, 2012)

Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar-Kapurthala Highway, Kapurthala, Punjab-144601 (INDIA) 649

HIGH VELOCITY OXY FUEL SPRAY COATINGS FOR WEAR AND
HOT CORROSION PROTECTION: A REVIEW

Harkulvinder Singh
a
*, Sukhpal Singh Chatha
a
,Hazoor Singh Sidhu
a

a
Yadavindra College of Engineering, Punjabi University Guru Kashi Campus, Talwandi Sabo, Punjab, India-151302
(Email: harkulvinder84@gmail.com)
*Corresponding author email-id harkulvinder84@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
Materials operating at high temperatures fail due to erosion-corrosion, wear, oxidation, and hot corrosion. In the
recent years, there has been a growing interest in the use of thermal spray coatings onto the surfaces of engineering
components to allow them to function under extreme conditions. Among the available HVOF process provides the
coatings with have high density, increased thickness capability, smoother surface finish, lower oxide levels, low
porosities, less effect of the environment during the spray process and have better corrosion and wear resistance
properties. This study is done with the aim of putting together the performance capabilities and applications of
HVOF process.

Keywords :HVOF, wear, hot corrosion, Coatings

1. INTRODUCTION
Coating provide a way of extending the limits of use
of materials at the upper end of their performance
capabilities by allowing the mechanical properties of the
substrate materials to be maintained while protecting
them against wear and erosion. The high velocity oxy
fuel process belong to the family of thermal spraying
technologies and are capable of producing coatings with
lower porosity, higher hardness, superior bond strength,
and lower decarburization than many other thermal
spraying methods ( Sidhu et al, 2005). In the HVOF
thermal spray technology, oxygen and liquid fuel are
combusted under high pressure in a chamber and the
combustion products are accelerated through a
converging-diverging nozzle. The powder fed into the
hot stream of gases, is heated and then is accelerated on
the substrate at very high speed (650-850 m/s) Fig 1.
Shows the schematic diagram of HVOF process (Kaur
et al, 2009). HVOF flame spraying has been recognized
as the most significant development in the thermal spray
industry during the last 15 years. Since the initial use of
tungsten carbide-cobalt, the range of powders has
expanded to include a large variety of other carbides as
well as metallic and ceramic materials ( Dobler et al,
2000). Thermally sprayed cermets coatings are widely
used in many engineering applications for their high
levels of wear resistance. Such cermet coatings include
WC-Co and Ni(Cr)Cr
3
C
2
used for wear protection(
Jones et al, 2001).




1.2 Wear
Wear involves the physical removal of material from
a solid surface by another surface or material. When a
hard surface with asperities slides on a softer surface
and removes material by gouging or plowing, the
process is called machining wear (Donachie et al, 2002).
Generally the level of abrasive wear depends on the
difference between the hardness of the abrasive particles
and that of counter materials. Adhesive wear is initiated
by the interfacial adhesive junctions that form if solid
materials are in contact on an atomic scale. Regardless
of surface finish, every surface has hills and valleys, so
when these surfaces slide against each other more and
more material will be plastically fractured from the
softer material and small fragments of metal are torn
away ( Lal and Vineet, 2010).

1.3 Hot corrosion failure
Metals and alloys sometimes experience accelerated
oxidation when their surfaces are covered with a thin
film of fused salt in an oxidizing gas atmosphere at
elevated temperatures. This is known as high
temperature or hot corrosion where a porous non
protective oxide scale is formed at the surfaces and
sulphides in the substrate (Singh et al, 2007). Hot
corrosion is an accelerated form of oxidation that occurs
at higher temperature in the presence of salt
contaminants such as Na
2
SO
4,
NaCl,V
2
O
5
that combine
to form molten deposits, which damage the protective
oxide layer (Eliaz et al, 2002).



International Conference on Advancements and Futuristic Trends in Mechanical and Materials Engineering (October 5-7, 2012)

Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar-Kapurthala Highway, Kapurthala, Punjab-144601 (INDIA) 650














2. Coating for wear
Sidhu et al, 2010 examined wear behavior of the
HVOF deposited Cr3C2NiCr and WCCo coatings on
Fe-base (ASTM-SA213-T22) steels by the pin-on-disc
mechanism. HVOF sprayed WCCo coating showed the
higher wear resistance as compare to Cr3C2NiCr
coating, because of high hardness, uniform and dense
microstructure.
Yang et al, 2003 investigated WCCo coating was
deposited by HVOF system. Dry sliding friction and
wear tests using sintered alumina (Al
2
O
3
) as the mating
material were performed. The specific wear rate of the
coatings was very low 10
6
mm
3
/(Nm) and increased
with increasing carbide grain size.
Zhao et al, 2004 examined the influence of spray
parameters on the particle in-flight properties and
coating properties during HVOF-spraying of WC-CoCr
powder using on-line particle monitoring. The wear
behavior of the coatings was evaluated both by rubber
wheel tests and by pin-on-disk tests. It was found that
the particle velocity was more sensitive to the spray
parameters than the particle temperature. In general, the
coating hardness increased with increasing the particle
temperature and velocity and the coating porosity
decreased. Under the experimental conditions, the total
gas flow rate showed more influence than the powder
feed rate, which again had more influence than the spray
distance.
Asl et al, 2006 investigated WC-17Co coating
deposited onto ST37 mild steel substrate using HVOF
spray technique and then heat treated at different
temperatures in a vacuum chamber. The coatings were
then evaluated in the as sprayed and heat treated
conditions. SEM/ XRD indicated that some brittle eta
() phases were produced at high temperature heat
treatments. Generation of these phases increased the
coatings hardness and decreased fracture toughness of
the


















coating. Wear test results showed that as sprayed
deposit had the best wear resistance and its wear
mechanism was sharp cutting abrasion.
Machio et al, 2005 investigated WCCo and WC
VCCo coatings deposited on stainless steel substrates
using a high velocity oxy-fuel process. Both have been
tested under identical conditions in order to compare
their resistance to abrasion and slurry erosion. Wear
and erosion testing results show that the WCVCCo
coatings powders exhibit higher abrasion resistance than
commercial WCCo coatings. In slurry erosion, the best
performance of the VC-containing coatings is as good
as that of the commercial WCCo coatings
Richert, 2011 investigated WC-Co-Cr, CrC
coatings deposited on fun blades by HVOF and Plasma
Spray techniques respectively. The results shows that
HVOF sprayed coats show more uniform and fine
grained microstructure than plasma sprayed coats. The
microhardness of the WC-Co carbide coating has been
found to be better than CrC coating.
The wear resistant strongly depends on the internal
micro-structure of coatings. The nanometric features
contributes to the increase of surface smoothness of
coatings and increase the resistance against the wear. C
lima et al, 2003 investigates WC-Co and CrC coatings
produced on low carbon steel substrates by using two
types of equipment: a high pressure HVOF model JP-
5000 and a portable HVOF model TJ-4000. SEM/ XRD,
hardness and wear testing results shows WC-12%Co
coatings by two different HVOF JP-5000 and TJ-4000
have presented similar results with relationship to micro
hardness, morphology, microstructure and abrasive wear
resistance. Cr
3
C
2
25 NiCr coatings sprayed by TJ-4000
have presented 64 % higher average volume loss than
similar WC-Co system in three bodies abrasion wear
test. Jones et al, 2001 Examined behavior of FeCrTiC
and NiCrCr
3
C
2
coatings deposited by high velocity oxy-

Fig-1 Schematic representation of HVOF system (Karagz M et al, 2011)

International Conference on Advancements and Futuristic Trends in Mechanical and Materials Engineering (October 5-7, 2012)

Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar-Kapurthala Highway, Kapurthala, Punjab-144601 (INDIA) 651
fuel (HVOF) spraying on mild steel substrates. Abrasive
wear was examined using a modified DSRW technique
and microstructure of coating reveals by SEM/XRD
techniques. It was found that the abrasive wear
resistance of the FeCrTiC coatings better than the
NiCrCr3C2 coating sprayed from blended powder.
Sahraoui et al, 2003 investigated the microstructure,
wear resistance and potentials of HVOF sprayed Cr
3
C
2

NiCr and WCCo coatings for a possible replacement of

hard chromium plating in gas turbine components
repair. Friction and wear tests show the Coatings exhibit
high hardness with a high volume fraction of carbides
being preserved during the HVOF spraying process.
Hardness and wear resistance of the WCCo coatings
were better than those of the Cr
3
C
2
25NiCr coatings.

3. Coatings for hot corrosion

Cr
3
C
2
-NiCr coating was deposited on SAE-347H
boiler steel by HVOF spray process and investigated at
700C for 50 cycles in Na
2
SO
4
-Fe
2
(SO
4
) molten salt, as
well as air environments by Kaur et al, 2009. The
results of HVOF spray Cr
3
C
2
-NiCr coating was found to
be successful in maintaining its adherence in both the
environments. The formation of chromium rich oxide
scale might have contributed for the better hot
corrosion/oxidation resistance in the coated steel.
Aalamialeagha et al, 2003 reveals that NiCr alloy
gas and water atomized powders sprayed by high
velocity oxy fuel with a gaseous propylene fuel and with
liquid fuel (kerosene) on mild steel substrates. The
characterization and corrosion resistance of the coatings
was evaluated by use of a salt spray chamber and
potentiodynamic tests. Scanning electron microscopy
(SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), results shows that
greatest corrosion protection to the steel substrate is
given by coatings produced from gas atomized NiCr
powders when sprayed by the liquid fuelled HVOF
system.
Sundararajan et al, 2004 investigated 80Ni-20Cr and
50Ni-50Cr coatings deposited by HVOF process and
APS (Air plasma spray) on 9Cr-1Mo steel substrate
respectively. Steam oxidation test was carried out at
650C for 100, 1000 and 3000 hours. SEM/EDAX and
XRD analysis shows HVOF coatings of both 80Ni-20Cr
and 50Ni-50Cr have good protection till 750C by
forming Cr oxide as protective layer as compared to
APS.
Sidhu et al, 2006 investigated ASTM-SA210 boiler
tube steel, after depositing the Cr
2
O
3
NiCr, WC12Co
and stellite-6 powder and Ni20Cr wire coating with
HVOF process by using oxygen and LPG as the fuel
gases. Cyclic oxidation was performed in molten salt
(Na
2
SO
4
60% V
2
O
5
) at 900C for 50 cycles. The
studies were performed for uncoated and coated samples
for the purpose of comparison. The results of XRD,
EDAX and EPMA analysis shows the NiCr coating has
provided the protection to the base steel, which may be
due to the formation of protective oxides like NiO,
NiCr
2
O
4
and Cr
2
O
3
. In dense layered structure, oxygen
has to travel a long distance along the grain boundary to
attack substrate steels, which is believed to increase the
corrosion resistance.
Sidhu et al, 2006 formulated NiCr and Stellite-6
coatings on SA-210, T-11 and T-22 boiler tube steels by
HVOF technique using LPG as fuel gas. These coatings
have been examined for characterization by
SEM/EDAX and XRD techniques for describes the
transformations that take place during HVOF spraying.
The results of Stellite-6 coating were better than NiCr
coatings for low value of porosity and surface
roughness. Microhardness of the Stellite-6 coating has
higher hardness as compared to the NiCr coating,
although both coatings have high hardness values
compared to the substrate steels.
Mahesh et al, 2010 investigated oxidation of T11 and
T22 boiler tube steels after depositing NiCrFeSiBalloy
coating with HVOF. The standard testing shows
microstructure of coatings has a dense and layered
structure with porosity less than 0.5%. The superior
performance of NiCrFeSiB coating can be attributed to
continuous and protective thin oxide scale of amorphous
SiO
2
and Cr
2
O
3
formed on the surface of the oxidized
coatings.
Kaushal et al, 2010 examined Ni-20Cr coating
deposit by HVOF on 347H boiler steel specimens and
the samples with and without coating were exposed to
the super heater zone of a thermal power plant boiler at
a temperature of 973 K (700C) under cyclic conditions
to ascertain their erosion-corrosion (E-C) behavior.
Examination of samples revealed that coating were
found to have significant resistance to its oxide scale
spallation during cyclic oxidation exposures; moreover,
the coating was found to have retained its continuous
contact with the substrate steel during these thermal
cycles. This indicates that the coating has good adhesion
strength.
Ramesh et al, 2009 HVOF sprayed Ni5Al coatings
on Ni- and Fe-based superalloy substrates were
characterized to assess the microstructural features and
strength in the as deposition condition for their
applications in high-temperature corrosive environment
of gas turbine. SEM/EDAX, XRD and mapping results
shows coatings with less porosity and inclusions were
produced using HVOF process. Diffusion of alloying
elements from the substrate into the coating has
occurred in all the three superalloy substrates.
Seong et al, 2000 evaluated corrosion resistance of
HVOF-sprayed Cr3C2NiCr coatings on heat exchanger
pipes of recuperators of steel mills. Three kinds of
corrosion tests under cyclic conditions were carried out
International Conference on Advancements and Futuristic Trends in Mechanical and Materials Engineering (October 5-7, 2012)

Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar-Kapurthala Highway, Kapurthala, Punjab-144601 (INDIA) 652
high-temperature oxidation tests in air, cyclic oxidation
tests in an SO
2
environment, and a molten-salt corrosion
test. In this experiment, a platinum catalyst was used for
the fast transformation of SO
2
into SO
3
. It was found
that Cr
3
C
2
NiCr coatings exhibited excellent corrosion
resistance in the molten salt as well as in the oxidation
environment.

Conclusions: -
HVOF process provides dense coatings, which
are suitable for wear and high temperature
applications. The better adhesion strength,
lower porosity and high hardness of the HVOF
coatings is attributed to the better mechanical
interlocking of the sprayed droplets with the
substrate due to the high kinetic energy
experienced by the impinging particles
Carbide and cermet coatings are successfully
deposited with HVOF. Hence HVOF process
can be thought of engineering solution to
enhance surface against wear & corrosion
degradation and other surface phenomena.

References:-

1. Aalamialeagha M. E., Harris S.J., Emamighomi M.,
(2003), Influence of the HVOF spraying process on the
microstructure and corrosion behavior of Ni-20% Cr
coatings, J of materials science, vol 38, pp4587 4596.

2. Asl S. K., Sohi M.H., Hokamoto K., Uemura M., (2006).,
Effect of heat treatment on wear behavior of HVOF
thermally sprayed WC-Co coatings., J of Wear., V-260.,
pg12031208.

3. Dobler K, Kreye H, Schwetzk R,. (2003),. Oxidation of
Stainless Steel in the High Velocity Oxy-Fuel Process,. J of
thermal Spray Technology.,V 9(3), pg 407-413.

4. Eliaz N., Shemesh G., Latanision R.M., (2002)., Hot
corrosion in gas turbine components., J of Engineering
failure analysis.vol-9, pp31-43.

5. Jones M., Horlock A.J., Shipway P.H., McCartney D.G.,
Wood J.V.,(2001)., Microstructure and abrasive wear
behavior of FeCrTiC coatings deposited by HVOF
spraying of SHS powders., J of Wear Vol-249,pg 246253.

6. Kaushal G., Singh H., Sprakash S.,(2010). High-
temperature erosion-corrosion performance of high-
velocity oxy-fuel sprayed Ni-20Cr coating in actual boiler
environment. J of metallurgical and materials transactions
a. 42.

7. Kaur M., Singh H and Prakash S, (2009), High-
Temperature Corrosion Studies of HVOF-Sprayed Cr3C2-
NiCr Coating on SAE-347H Boiler Steel, J of Thermal
Spray Technology, vol 18(4),pp619-632.

8. Lal G., and Shibe V., (2010)., Material science and
engineering., P of Advancements and Futuristic Trends in
Mechanical and Materials Engineering ., pg 404-408.

9. Lima C. R. C. and Camargo F,. (2003)., Evaluation of
HVOF Coatings for Wear Applications., J of thermal spray
2003: advancing the science & applying the technology.,
763-767.
10. Mahesh R.M., Jayaganthan R., Prakash S,. (2009),
Microstructural characterization and hardness evaluation
of HVOF sprayed Ni5Al coatings on Ni- and Fe-based
superalloys., J of materials processing technology., V 2 0 9
pg-35013510.

11. Machio C.N.,Akdogan .G, MWitcomb M.J., Luyckx S.,
(2005)., Performance of WCVCCo thermal spray
coatings in abrasion and slurry erosion tests., J of Wear.,
Vol-258, pg 434442.

12. Richert M. W., (2011)., The wear resistance of thermal
spray the tungsten and chromium carbides coatings., J of
achievements in Materials and Manufacturing
Engineering., V 47, pg 177-184.

13. Sidhu T.S., Prakash S., and Agrawal R.D,. (2005),. Studies
on the properties of high-velocity oxyfuel thermal spray
coatings for higher temperature applications,. J of
Materials Science., V41, pg 805-823.

14. Sidhu H S., Sidhu B S., Parkash S.,(2006)., The role of hvof
coatings in improving hot corrosion resistance of ASTM-
SA210 gra1 steel in the presence of Na2SO4-V2O5 salt
deposits. J. of surface & coatings technology.200, 5386
5394.
15. Sidhu H S., Sidhu B S., Parkash S,(2010),Characteristic
parameters of HVOF sprayed NiCr and stellite-6 coatings
on the boiler steels using LPG as fuel gas, J of engineering
and information technology, vol2,pp133-139.

16. Sidhu T.S., Prakash S., Agrawal R.D.,(2005). Performance
of high-velocity oxyfuel- sprayed coatings on an fe-based
superalloy in Na2SO4 -60%V2O5 environment at 900C,
part ii: hot corrosion behavior of the coatings, J of
materials engineering and performance.15(1), 130.

17. Singh H, Puri D and Parkash S. (2007). Overview of
Na2SO4 and/or V2O5 induced hot corrosion of fe- and ni-
based superalloys. J. OF material science. V 16. Pg 27-50.

18. Sidhu H.S., Sidhu B.S., Prakash S., (2010)., Wear
characteristics of Cr
3
C
2
NiCr and WCCo
coatings deposited by LPG fueled HVOF., J of
tribology international., V43, pg 887-890.

19. Sahraoui T., Fenineche N. E., Montavon G., Coddet C.,
(2003). Structure and wear behaviour of HVOF sprayed
Cr3C2NiCr and WCCo coatings. J of materials and
design. V-24, pg 309313.

20. Seong B.S., Hwang S.Y., and K. Y. Kim K.Y., (2000). High-
temperature corrosion of recuperators used in steel mills. J
of Surf. Coat. Technol., Vol.126, pg 256265.

21. Yang Q., Senda T., Ohmori A., (2003). Effect of carbide
grain size on microstructure and sliding wear behavior of
HVOF-sprayed WC12% Co coatings. J of Wear., Vol 254,
pg 2334.

22. Zhao L, Maurer M.,Falko Fischer F., Dicks R.,
Lugscheider E., (2004)., Influence of spray parameters on
the particle in-flight properties and the properties of
HVOF coating of WC-CoCr.,J of Wear., V-257, pg 4146.