Publication

Abstract : The anti-wear properties of coatings are important to enhance the life of the steel surfaces. Thus, understanding the wear mechanisms of any coating matrix is important while designing and choosing a new coating matrix on steel surfaces. The present work investigated the thermal, mechanical, anti-wear, and anti-corrosion performance of semi-liquid epoxy-coated EN8 steel surfaces under reciprocating motion. The semi-liquid LY556 epoxy mixed with HY951 hardener was used to coat EN8 surfaces. The tribo-tests were conducted at different loads (5 N, 10 N, 15 N, and 20 N), spindle frequencies (1 Hz, 2 Hz, 3 Hz, and 4 Hz), and temperatures (40 °C, 60 °C, 80 °C, and 100 °C), maintaining a stroke length of 15 mm. The differential scanning calorimeter readings indicated the glass transition temperature of the cured epoxy to be 80 °C with the endothermic peak at 119 °C. The thermal degradation of the cured epoxy was found to be 330 °C using a thermal gravimetric analyzer. Artificial neural network models indicated that the frictional coefficient of the coated EN 8 samples increased with an increase in load, frequency, and temperature with the minimum frictional coefficient at 40 °C (0.0767 ± 0.014). The coating peel-off was observed from 80 °C. The optical microscope and scanning electron microscope images of the coating wear scar exhibited cracks and Schallamach-like material waves. Additionally, the corrosion studies indicated a significant corrosion resistance of the coated bars even after 120 h as compared to non-coated bars. Thus, the present work will be highly beneficial in developing new anti-wear and anti-corrosive coatings for steel surfaces.