Effect of Coatings on Tribological Characteristics of Low Carbon Steel

The purpose of the study is to investigate the effect of coatings (hard chrome plating & plasma nitriding) on Tribological characteristics of low carbon steel (AISI 1020). A Tribotester of pin-on- disc type is used in determining the coefficient of friction and the amount of the wear. The experiment was performed on a mild steel (C-0.20%) disc of and aluminum silicon alloy (9% Si) pin is used. The test of friction force and wear behavior was done experimentally and shows that the coated disc of Mild Steel was slightly less than that of the heat-treated Mild Steel disc. Hence, a comparison was done between the effects of chrome plating, plasma nitriding and uncoated which resulted in the hard chromium coating to be effective in reducing the friction and wear in considerable amount. The wear for uncoated disc leads more, whereas wear for coated was slightly less than heat treatment's wear when operated on different RPM's i.e. (319, 764, and 1433). The chrome coated disc resulted increase in the Vickers hardness value. The overall results of this experiment is that plasma nitriding is better than currently available coatings and effect of different coatings (Hard Chrome Plating, Nickle Plating, Blackening) and heat treated (Plasma Nitriding) mild steel on the dry sliding wear behavior of the casted aluminum silicon alloy will Increases the Surface Hardness, Lowers the amount of Wear and Lowers the Coefficient of Friction