Evaluation of unlubricated wear properties of plasma-sprayed nanostructured and conventional zirconia coatings by SRV tester

Atmospheric plasma spraying method was used to deposit nanostructured and conventional zirconia coatings using spray-dried nanostructured zirconia powder and conventional zirconia powder as feedstock, respectively. Their wear properties were evaluated comparatively by a sliding, reciprocating and vibrating (SRV) tester under dry conditions. The obtained results show that the wear properties of the plasma sprayed zirconia coatings deposited from spray-dried nanostructured zirconia powder were greatly improved compared with those of plasma sprayed zirconia coatings produced from conventional powder. The wear rates of nanostructured zirconia coatings are approximately half of those of conventional zirconia coatings. Under dry conditions, the wear mechanism for the plasma-sprayed nanostructured zirconia coatings is abrasive wear. Whilst in the case of plasma sprayed conventional zirconia coatings, it is a combination of abrasive wear and brittle fracture, the former is dominant wear mechanism. Their wear properties were explained in terms of their microstructure as well as mechanical properties and compared with the wear properties obtained under distilled-water lubricated conditions. Based on the experimental results, it is concluded that the finer debris is a critical factor for the improvement of wear properties of plasma-sprayed nanostructured zirconia coating under dry conditions. The wear properties of plasma sprayed zirconia coatings can be increased by the presence of water during the SRV testing.