Nichrome Clad Chromium Carbide Powder Plasma Spray Coatings

A new chromium carbide/nichrome composite powder has been developed. Unlike the commonly used powder blends, each carbide is clad with a layer of nichrome. Air plasma and low pressure plasma sprayed coatings were compared to conventional coatings from the 25% nichrome/75% chrome carbide blends. Results show that air sprayed coatings from the composite powder have 3 times more abrasive wear resistance than the conventional blend and the abrasive Wear resistance of the low pressure sprayed coatings is 4 times that of the blend. Metallography and physical properties of chromium carbide/nichrome coatings will be discussed.