Rolling Contact Fatigue Life of Thermally Sprayed WC Cermet Coatings - A Review

This review reports the most recent and important research trends on the rolling contact fatigue (RCF) performance of thermally sprayed WC cermet coatings. In order to do so, the inventions, methods, techniques and designs related to this area are discussed. Recently, durability or rolling contact fatigue life of thermally sprayed WC cermet coatings under rolling/sliding contact conditions has been the study of much investigation. Test results revealed that the performance of these coatings is application dependent. Researchers showed that RCF life of WC cermet coatings depends not only on the coating and substrate properties but also on the contact configuration, coating thickness, slip ratio, substrate surface finish, mating surface roughness, lubrication etc. In general, it is the combination of the coating and substrate material and the various tribological conditions during the tests which govern the performance of the coatings. In this article, an attempt is made to provide an opportunity for the future researchers to identify the recent trend of these areas. It is expected that the applications of these results will contribute for optimizing the design of surface engineered components in rolling/sliding contacts. This review article also includes some relevant patents.