Exploring the Mechanical, Wear, and Corrosion Performance of WS2-Cu Coatings Deposited on AA 7075 Alloy via Electrical Discharge Coating Approach
摘要
This work explores the mechanical, wear and corrosion resilient features of WS2/Cu nano coatings made by an electrical discharge coating (EDC) technique with compact green electrodes that contain different amounts of copper (Cu) powder and tungsten disulfide (WS2). Electrochemical corrosion tests were used to analyze the coating's corrosion behaviour, and its hardness was examined using a Vicker's microhardness tester. The experimental results were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy for microstructural investigation and XRD for phase analysis. The findings show that the 60WS2:40Cu composite coating has a higher hardness than the others, approximately 1.67 times higher than the 50WS2:50Cu composite coating and 1.4 times higher than the 70WS2:30Cu composite coating. The coating's XRD profile revealed different peaks for W, WS2, Cu, and Cu2S. This is because, during the EDC process, an interfacial reaction occurs between WS2 and Cu and the resultant products are Cu2S and W. The 60WS2:40Cu coating had the highest wear resistance which was about 1.3 times higher than the 50WS2:50Cu coating and 1.1 times higher than the 70WS2:30Cu coating. Good interfacial bonding, grain refinement, a greater crystallinity index, a larger microstrain, and a higher dislocation density can effectively avert the formation and dissemination of cracks in sliding which reduces wear rate. The 60WS2:40Cu coating has an icorr value that is seven times lower than 50WS2:50Cu and 3.5 times lower than 70WS2:30Cu coating, according to a potentiodynamic polarization test. It suggests that the 60WS2:40Cu coating has more resistant to corrosion than the other two. The higher mechanical and corrosion behaviour is caused by the more homogeneous distribution of WS2 at the mixing ratio of 60WS2:40Cu and the uniform surface texture with the smaller amount pores.