Title: Effect of nickel content on hardness and wear behaviour of surface modified functionally graded Cu-Sn bronze alloy

Authors: Cherian Paul; R. Sellamuthu

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore-641112, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore-641112, India

Abstract: The effect of nickel content on the hardness, wear properties and microstructure of surface modified Cu-10Sn bronze alloy was investigated in this study. Gas tungsten arc (GTA) was used as the heat source for the surface modification process. Nickel with varying coating thicknesses was applied on the bronze substrate and the surface modification was done. Hardness and wear rate of the modified layer were measured using a microhardness tester and a pin-on-disc wear tester, respectively. The Ni concentration profiling was done using EDAX. A layered functionally graded bronze alloy was obtained after the surface modification process. A fine grained microstructure was observed in the modified layer. The hardness as well as wear resistance was found to improve as a result of nickel addition. The coefficient of friction remains constant irrespective of the hardness. The results of this study are comparable to those of previous works.

Keywords: nickel profile; heat source; functionally graded materials; FGM; surface modification; hardness; wear rate; copper; tin; bronze alloys; gas tungsten arc; GTA; coating thickness; fine grained microstructure.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMATEI.2016.077316

International Journal of Materials Engineering Innovation, 2016 Vol.7 No.1, pp.43 - 55

Received: 11 Apr 2015
Accepted: 02 Sep 2015
Published online: 28 Jun 2016 *

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