Study of the cavitation resistance of Sn-based coatings

In this study, the resistance to cavitation erosion of different Sn-based journal bearing overlay coatings were studied and compared. An ultrasonic horn set-up was used to generate cavitation over the surface of samples coated with the evaluated coatings, the volume loss during the tests was estimated and the surface morphology and structure of the overlay coatings was investigated after tests. The results show how the overlay coating structure has an effect on the cavitation resistance of the Sn-based coatings studied, as the multilayered Sn-based overlay coating exhibited a significantly enhanced resistance to cavitation erosion compared with monolayered Sn-based overlay coatings.