Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Sliding wear of a self-mated thermally sprayed chromium oxide coating in a simulated PWR water environment

Ratia, V.L.; Zhang, D.; Daure, J.L.; Shipway, P.H.; McCartney, D.G.; Stewart, D.A.

Sliding wear of a self-mated thermally sprayed chromium oxide coating in a simulated PWR water environment Thumbnail


Authors

V.L. Ratia

DEEN ZHANG deen.zhang@nottingham.ac.uk
Research Fellow

D.G. McCartney

D.A. Stewart



Abstract

Bearing surfaces in the primary circuit of pressurized water reactors (PWR) are prone to damage due to aggressive chemical and tribological conditions under which they operate, and a wide range of materials have been examined in this regard. One of the most promising candidates is chromium oxide in the form of a thermally spayed coating, and in this work, the behaviour of a commercially available Cr2O3 coating in self-mated sliding was considered. Tests consisted of a number of start-stop cycles of sliding between a crowned pin and a rotating disc in a water environment in an autoclave in an attempt to simulate the most aggressive phase of bearing run-up and run-down. Wear and damage mechanisms were examined at temperatures from ambient up to 250 C (a representative PWR environment). Samples were characterized before and after wear testing using mass measurements, profilometry, X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Across the temperature range, wear was mild, with no evidence of coating delamination. A five-fold increase in wear was observed between 80 C and 250 C (with wear depths of generally less than 8 µm being observed on the disc samples even at the higher temperature), despite there being only very small changes in hardness of the coating over the same temperature range. Debris was observed on the wear tracks following testing, with the evidence together suggesting that this debris was a very fine-grained mixture of Cr2O3 and amorphous -CrOOH, a corrosion product of Cr2O3.

Citation

Ratia, V., Zhang, D., Daure, J., Shipway, P., McCartney, D., & Stewart, D. (2019). Sliding wear of a self-mated thermally sprayed chromium oxide coating in a simulated PWR water environment. Wear, 426-427(Part B), 1466-1473. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2018.12.058

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Dec 20, 2018
Online Publication Date Apr 10, 2019
Publication Date Apr 30, 2019
Deposit Date Jan 2, 2019
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Wear
Print ISSN 0043-1648
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 426-427
Issue Part B
Pages 1466-1473
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2018.12.058
Keywords ceramic; tribocorrosion; nuclear; surface engineering; chromia; Cr2O3
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1440775
Publisher URL https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043164818316521
Additional Information This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Sliding wear of a self-mated thermally sprayed chromium oxide coating in a simulated PWR water environment; Journal Title: Wear; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2018.12.058; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.