LAUSR

Thermally sprayed copper and copper alloy coatings are among the most widely used coating materials for several industrial and medical applications to serve various functions such as corrosion resistance, wear resistance and antibacterial coating applications. In the present study, wear behavior of twin arc spray Cu, Cu 4%Sn (tin bronze), Cu 17%Ni 10%Zn (German silver) and Cu 17%Al 1%Fe (aluminum bronze) coatings is investigated experimentally. Wear tests were conducted using ball-on-disk configuration against a 440C stainless steel ball as a counterface. The effect of normal load on the coefficient of friction and wear behavior was investigated. SEM and 3D optical profilometry were used to characterize the coatings in terms of morphology and surface roughness. It is observed that copper coatings with aluminum and tin bronzes have high wear resistance and low coefficient of friction among the tested coatings, mainly due to their high hardness and coherent splats. It was also found that wear rate increases with the normal load.