Sand-wear resistance of brush electroplated nanocomposite coating in oil and its application to remanufacturing

Abstract

Sand-wear resistance of nano scale alumina particle reinforced nickel matrix composite coating (n-Al₂O₃/Ni) prepared by brush electroplating technique was investigated via wear tests in sand-contaminated oil lubricant, comparing with that of AISI1045 steel and brush electroplated Ni coating. Effects of testing load, sand content and sand size on worn volume of the three materials, and also coating surface roughness on worn volume of the brush electroplated coatings were accessed. Results show that the worn volume of all the three materials increases with increasing of testing load, sand content and sand size. In the same conditions, n-Al₂O₃/Ni composite coating has the smallest worn volume while AISI1045 steel has the largest because of the n-Al₂O₃ particle effects. As to n-Al₂O₃/Ni and Ni coatings, the surface-polished coatings have obviously lower worn volume than the as-plated coatings. The brush electroplated n-Al₂O₃/Ni composite coating was employed to remanufacture the sand-worn bearing seats of a heavy vehicle and good results were gained.