TiC/Fe cermet coating by plasma cladding using asphalt as a carbonaceous precursor

A new Ti–Fe–C compound powder for plasma cladding was prepared by heating a mixture powder of ferrotitanium and asphalt pyrolyzed as a carbonaceous precursor. The carbon by the pyrolysis of the asphalt acts as a reactive constituent as well as a binder in the compound powder. The TiC/Fe cermet coatings were prepared by plasma cladding with the compound powder. Results show that the Ti–Fe–C compound powder has a very tight structure, which can avoid the problem of the reactive constituent particles being separated during cladding. The TiC/Fe cermet coating presents a typical morphology of plasma cladding coatings with two different laminated layers: one is the composite layer in which the round fine TiC particles (<500 nm) are dispersed within a Fe matrix, the other is the paragentic layer of TiC and Ti2O3. The coating shows high hardness and excellent wear resistance. The surface hardness of the coating is 68 ± 5(HR30N). In the same fretting conditions, the wear area of Ni60 coating is about 11 times as much as the TiC/Fe cermet coating.