Abstract
In order to improve the wear resistance of an Al alloy surface, a low pressure plasma spray coating has been applied to make a hard coating. An A6063 alloy was used as the substrate, with coatings of rapidly solidified powders of the alloys Al–50Si, Al–17Si–15Fe, and Al–50Fe. Dense layers with high hardness of 200–240 and 450–530 HV were obtained with Al–50Si and Al–17Si–15Fe powders, respectively. The abrasive wear resistance of these coatings improved by two and three times respectively on that of A6063. A much higher hardness of 700–850 HV was obtained with Al-50Fe powder, but porosity and cracking occurred in the layer. These defects prevented an improvement of the abrasive wear resistance of the coatings compared to those of Al–50Si and Al–17Si–15Fe powders.
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