Commonly, the low wear resistance of stainless steels damages them during usage; in order to enhance wear properties, various types of tungsten-carbide-based coatings, such as WC-Co and WC-Ni, could be applied on the steel surface. To improve the mechanical properties of the coatings, instead of nickel- or cobalt-bearing coatings, WC-FeAl composite coating is used. Following the previous studies on laser cladding of the WC-FeAl composite powder on 321 stainless steel, the mechanical properties and wear characteristics of the coats are discussed here. Mechanical evaluations showed that hardness, fracture toughness, and the modulus of elasticity of the coating were, respectively, 1600 HV, 5.7 MPa m1/2, and 355 GPa. Moreover, a wear test was conducted at ambient temperature with a 30 N load for 3000 m. The results indicated that by applying the coating, the weight loss of the 321 steel decreased from 146 to 0.7 mg. Besides, the wear rate of the coated sample was 0.57 mm3/N m. Further analysis conducted on the worn surfaces of the coated samples depicted that parallel scratches formed on the surface, indicating that the abrasion wear was the main mechanism for WC-FeAl coating.

中文翻译：

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321不锈钢基体激光熔覆WC-FeAl涂层的磨损行为

通常，不锈钢的低耐磨性在使用过程中会损坏它们；为了提高耐磨性能，可以在钢表面涂覆各种类型的碳化钨基涂层，如 WC-Co 和 WC-Ni。为了提高涂层的机械性能，使用 WC-FeAl 复合涂层代替含镍或钴的涂层。继之前对 WC-FeAl 复合粉末在 321 不锈钢上进行激光熔覆的研究之后，这里讨论了涂层的机械性能和磨损特性。力学评价表明涂层的硬度、断裂韧性和弹性模量分别为 1600 HV、5.7 MPa m1/2 和 355 GPa。此外，在环境温度下以 30 N 载荷进行了 3000 m 的磨损试验。结果表明，通过涂覆涂层，321 钢的失重从 146 毫克减少到 0.7 毫克。此外，涂层样品的磨损率为 0.57 mm3/N·m。对涂层样品的磨损表面进行的进一步分析表明，表面形成平行划痕，表明磨损是 WC-FeAl 涂层的主要机制。