Tribo-corrosion behavior of electroless Ni-P coatings in alkaline corrosive environment

Abstract

The present article considers an experimental study of tribo-corrosion behavior of electroless Ni–P coatings in alkaline environment sliding against alumina. The study of wear and friction behaviour is carried out using different load and sliding speed with the help of a pin-on-disk tribometer. The wear rate increases with decrease in sliding speed and increase in the applied load. The friction coefficient initially decreases with increase in the applied load and then remains at nearly steady level at higher applied load. Also, it is found that the friction coefficient is lower at higher sliding speed. The friction coefficient does not change with the sliding duration after the initial transient running-in time. The coating is characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The wear mechanism is also studied and has been found to be mostly abrasive in nature.