Investigation of the microstructure and tribological behavior of cold-sprayed tin-bronze-based composite coatings

In this paper, tin-bronze/TiN and tin-bronze/quasicrystal (AlCuFeB) composite coatings were fabricated by cold spray process. Microstructure and microhardness of the prepared coatings were investigated. Ball-on-disc dry sliding wear tests were conducted in an ambient condition to examine the tribological behavior of the composite coatings. The results show that the microhardness and the density of composite coatings increase significantly compared to the pure tin-bronze coating. The friction coefficient of composite coating decreases when reinforcing particles were introduced. Furthermore, the bronze/quasicrystal composite coating has a lower friction coefficient and wear rate than the bronze/TiN coating. Tribological mechanisms of the composite coatings were discussed.