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Effect of Grinding on the Residual Stress and Adhesion Strength of HVOF

Thermally Sprayed WC–10Co–4Cr Coating

Article  in  Materials and Manufacturing Processes · September 2014

DOI: 10.1080/10426914.2014.930893

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 Materials and Manufacturing Processes, 29: 1139–1151, 2014
Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1042-6914 print=1532-2475 online
DOI: 10.1080/10426914.2014.930893

Effect of Grinding on the Residual Stress and Adhesion Strength of

HVOF Thermally Sprayed WC–10Co–4Cr Coating
Hamed Masoumi1, Seyed Mohsen Safavi1, Mehdi Salehi2, and Saied Mehran Nahvi3
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran
2
Department of Materials Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran
3
Steel Institute, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran

In carbide cermet coatings, such as WC–Co–Cr, the surface roughness of the sprayed workpiece is much more than the acceptable values
for various industrial demands. Thus, the surface of the carbide cermet coatings is to be ground appropriately to obtain suitable surface
finish. However, the grinding may change the properties of coating. In this study, effects of the grinding process on the porosity content,
residual stress, microhardness, and adhesion and cohesion strength of the high-velocity oxy-fuel WC–10Co–4Cr coatings are investigated.
For this purpose, the grinding experiments have been performed on a surface grinder using a diamond wheel (resin bond) under different
grinding parameters, such as table feed rate, cutting speed, and depth of cut. The investigations of residual stress state and adhesion proper-
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ties were carried out using the X-ray diffraction and interfacial indentation test methods, respectively. The results indicated that the coat-
ing’s porosity content increased after grinding due to the mechanical loading of coating by diamond grits of the grinding wheel. On the other
hand, adhesion and cohesion strength and microhardness of the coating were improved after grinding. This can be interpreted by the
residual stress state of the coating samples.

Keywords Adhesion; Coating; Cohesion; Grinding; Hvof; Microhardness; Porosity; Residual stress; WC–10Co–4Cr.

INTRODUCTION Material finish and tolerance requirements may dictate

The process of electrolytic hard chromium (EHC) plat-
ing is employed both for general rebuild of corroded or
worn parts and for applying hard coatings to a variety of
industrial workpieces. Chrome plating baths contain chro-
mic acid, in which the Cr is in the hexavalent state, with
hexavalent chrome (hex-Cr) being a known carcinogen
[1]. Some researchers have proposed using high-velocity
oxy-fuel (HVOF) spray of tungsten carbide–cobalt coat-
ings as an alternative technique [2]. HVOF-sprayed
coating has been studied as a leading alternative to EHC
coatings [1]. HVOF WC–Co–Cr coatings are extensively
used to improve the components lifetimes in abrasive,
erosive, and oxidizing environments [3–6]. Gate and ball
valves, compressor section of the gas turbine, different rolls
(stabilizer rolls, sink rolls, guide rolls, and tower rolls), and
landing gear components are some of the areas where
HVOF WC–Co–Cr coatings are extensively used [1].
The as-sprayed coatings of thermal spray techniques
generally result in high level of surface roughness. In car-
bide cermet coatings, such as WC–Co–Cr, the surface
roughness of the sprayed workpiece is much more than
the acceptable values for various industrial demands.
Thus, the surface of the carbide cermet coatings is to be
ground appropriately to obtain suitable surface finish [7].
Received March 1, 2014; Accepted May 16, 2014
Address correspondence to Hamed Masoumi, Department of
Mechanical Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan
84156-83111, Iran; E-mail: h.masoumi@me.iut.ac.ir.
Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be
found online at www.tandfonline.com/LMMP.
grinding as the only practical means of finishing thermal
spray parts [8]. The grinding, however, may change the
coating properties. The influences of grinding on the coat-
ing properties are rarely investigated. Also, there are very
few publications on the influence of grinding on the
WC–Co based coatings characteristics. For this reason,
further study on the porosity, residual stress, adhesion
strength, and hardness of WC–Co based coatings is
required. Some researchers have studied the influence of
grinding on certain properties of WC–Co based coatings,
such as wear [9] and erosion [7] behavior, residual stress
[10], damage evaluation [11], material removal mechanism
[12, 13], and grinding force and specific energy [13]. How-
ever, the influences of grinding process on adhesion and
cohesion strength and porosity of WC–Co HVOF coatings
(or other coatings) have not yet been reported.
In this work, the effects of grinding process on the
porosity, residual stress, microhardness, and adhesion
and cohesion strength of HVOF-sprayed WC–10Co–
4Cr coating are investigated. Also, the effect of grinding
parameters (wheel speed, feed rate, and depth of cut) on
these properties is examined.
EXPERIMENTS
Surface Preparation and HVOF Spraying
The substrate employed in this study was low carbon
steel samples with dimensions of 20
10
8 mm3, which
was thoroughly degreased and were grit blasted using
grit blasting machine with SiC (grit 24) for a few minutes
to increase the surface roughness and achieve better

1139
 1140
coating adhesion to the substrate. The WC–10Co–4Cr
powders (GTV number 80.76.1 produced by GTV Com-
pany, Germany) were used in this work. The shape of
this powder was spherical and the grain size was 45
to þ20 mm. In this work, a Metjet-III system (Metalliza-
tion, UK) was employed to spray WC–10Co–4Cr
powders onto substrates using HVOF process. The coat-
ing thickness was approximately 400 mm. The spraying
conditions are illustrated in Table 1.
Grinding Procedure
Grinding experiments were carried out under down
grinding configuration on an IMTI (Industrial Machine
Tool, Inc., USA) surface grinding machine. A diamond
wheel (resin bond) with a diamond concentration number
of 75 (3.3 carats=cm3) and an average grain size of 76 mm
was employed. Diameter, width, and diamond thickness
of the wheel were 350, 15, and 5 mm, respectively.
Water-based emulsion was employed as the grinding fluid.
Grinding conditions are as follows: depth of cut ap ¼ 4, 10,
16, and 22 mm, feed rate vw ¼ 142, 273, 413, and 550 mm=s,
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and cutting speed vs ¼ 20, 25, 30, and 35 m=s.
Coating Characterization
Porosity. Image analysis method was used to exactly
evaluate the porosity level in WC–10Co–4Cr coating. For
the evaluation of porosity (microhardness and adhesion
strength), the as-sprayed and as-ground samples were
cross-sectioned with a low-speed SiC saw and cold
mounted by the epoxy resin. Sectioning of the coating
began through the outermost layer of the coating to pro-
duce a compressive, rather than a tensile, stress within the
coating that prevents delamination. The specimens were
ground and polished and then observed using scanning
electron microscopy (SEM; Philips XL30, Netherlands).
Four digital SEM images were randomly taken from each
cross-section of coating samples. Quantitative analysis of
the porosity content was carried out using a software
image analyzer. The average values of porosity content
were taken from the four values in each image.
Residual stress. The most important technique for
residual stresses determination is X-ray diffraction
(XRD) method. In this method, a hkl diffraction peak
is compared with that for an unstressed sample to deter-
mine the lattice strains. Then the stresses can be
obtained by Hooke’s law [14, 15].
In this work, the residual stress measurements were
carried out with CuKa radiation having wavelength of
1.5406 Å on a Philips XRD diffractometer. The residual
stress on the as-sprayed and as-ground coating samples
was measured using XRD method, using the sin2w
TABLE 1.— HVOF-spraying parameters.
Oxygen (SL=min) 830
Kerosene (mL=min) 260
Powder feed rate (g=min) 65
Carrier gas (N2) flow rate (L=min) 4
Spraying distance (cm) 35.5
H. MASOUMI ET AL.
technique [16]. Since WC–10Co–4Cr is a multiphase
cermet coating and tungsten carbide symbolizes the main
phase of this coating, the residual stress determination
comprised precise measurement of the peak shift of the
tungsten carbide Bragg monitored at 2h ¼ 84.14 , since
no peak interference was observed. Thus, the residual
stress of the coating specimens was calculated by the WC
reflection in a 2h measuring range of 82–86 . The anode
settings were current of 40 mA and tube voltage of 40 kV.
In the as-sprayed sample, the XRD measurement was
carried out in the longitudinal and transverse directions
with stress components rxx and ryy, corresponding to
azimuth angles / ¼ 0 and / ¼ 90 , respectively. Also,
in the as-ground coating samples, the stress values paral-
lel to (rxx or r11: / ¼ 0 ) and perpendicular to (ryy or r?:
/ ¼ 90 ) the grinding direction were considered, as
shown in Fig. 1(a). For each azimuth angle /, peaks
were recorded at 11 tilt angles w between 40 and
þ40 (0, 16.71, 23.99, 29.86, 35.10, 40).
It has been proved that the measured strain e/w along
the / and w direction can be related to the stresses using
the following equation [16]:
d/w  d0 1 þ t
e/w ¼ ¼ ðr11 cos2 / þ r12 sin 2/
d0 E
þ r22 sin2 /  r33 Þsin2 w
1þt t
þ r33  ðr11 þ r22 þ r33 Þ
E E
1þt
þ ðr13 cos / þ r23 sin /Þ sin 2w ð1Þ
E
where d/w and d0 are the stressed and unstressed lattice
spacing, respectively. Also, E, t and rij are the modulus
of elasticity, the Poisson’s ratio, and the residual stress
component, respectively. Previous investigations have
shown that the residual stresses in grinding appear to
be in biaxial stress state [10]. All stresses normal to the
coating surface in this case are zero, r3j ¼ 0, j ¼ 1,3.
For such a stress tensor Eq. (1) becomes [16]:
1þt t
dw ¼ d0 r/ sin2 w  ðr11 þ r22 Þd0 þ d0 ð2Þ
E E
Here r/ is the stress component along the / direction:
r/ ¼ r11 cos2 / þ r12 sin 2/ þ r22 sin2 / ð3Þ
Equation (2) demonstrates a linear variation of the plane
spacing versus sin2w, with the slope of the m:
1þt
m¼ d0 r/ ð4Þ
E
Thus, if the elastic constant, (1 þ t)=E, and the
unstressed plane spacing, d0, are known, the stress
component along the / direction can be calculated from
the slope of the dw vs. sin2w [16].
In this research, the values of t [19] and E were 0.22 and
316 GPa, respectively, for determining the residual stresses
of WC–10Co–4Cr coating samples. The Young’s modulus
value was calculated using nanoindentation test.
 EFFECT OF GRINDING ON THE RESIDUAL STRESS AND ADHESION STRENGTH 1141
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FIGURE 1.—Schematic view of the: (a) sample geometry and measurement directions of residual stresses, (b) IIT method [17], (c) indentation impressions of
Vickers indenter at the coating cross-section and at the coating–substrate interface [18], and (d) IIT results [17].

Microhardness. The Vickers hardness test is the d=2, are measured at the interface by optical microscopy
standard microhardness test employed for thermal spray [Fig. 1(c)]. They are plotted versus the applied loads in
coatings [1]. The microhardness measurements of the bilogarithmic scale [Fig. 1(d)]. Finally, the critical point
WC–10Co–4Cr coatings were obtained by a Micromet coordinates (Pc, ac) are determined as the intersection
(Buehler, Japan) microhardness tester using a Vickers point between extrapolated lines lnP – lnd and lnP – lna.
diamond indenter. The microhardness measurements Using the critical parameters for cracking, Pc and ac,
were carried out on the polished cross-section of the under which no crack generates in the coating–substrate
coatings so that the measurements are not influenced interface, apparent interfacial fracture toughness, Kca,
by the steel substrate. The dwell time of the load and can be expressed as [17]
the applied load were 20 s and 300 g, respectively. For
each specimen, the measurement of microhardness was
1=2
carried out five times and the average values were Pc
E
Kca ¼ 0:015 3=2 ð5Þ
computed. ac H i

1=2
Adhesion and cohesion strength. There are many where ðE=H Þi is the square root of the ratio of the
approaches to determine cohesion and adhesion strength modulus of elasticity and the hardness at the coating–
of thermal spray coatings. Among them, tensile substrate interface. It is defined as [17]
adhesion test (TAT) standardized in ASTM C633 is

1=2
commonly employed. However, the TAT technique is E ðE=H Þ1=2
c ðE=H Þ1=2
s
not appropriate for as-ground coating samples. Grind- ¼ 1=2
þ ð6Þ
ing of samples prior to applying the adhesive for TAT H i 1 þ ðHc =Hs Þ 1 þ ðHs =Hc Þ1=2
minimizes the mechanical interlocking and it may tend
to activate the surface for chemical reaction with the where H is the hardness, E is the modulus of elasticity,
epoxy [1]. For this reason, in this study the interfacial and subscripts c and s denote coating and substrate,
indentation test (IIT) has been employed to evaluate respectively.
the adhesion strength of as-sprayed and as-ground The fracture toughness of coating, Kc, which may be a
samples. symbol of the coating cohesive properties, is calculated
The principle of the IIT method is the loading pyrami- using Vickers indentation approach. The following
dal Vickers diamond indenter on the cross-section of the equation is employed to obtain Kc [18]:
coating–substrate interface at varying applied loads to
develop and propagate a crack along the interface, as

P E 1=2
illustrated in Fig. 1(b). For each test of indentation, Kc ¼ 0:016 3=2 ð7Þ
the crack length, a, and the half diagonal of the indenter, c H
 1142 H. MASOUMI ET AL.

where P, c, E, and H are the applied load, the crack
length [Fig. 1(c)], the Young’s modulus of coating, and
the coating hardness, respectively.
In this study, cohesive and adhesive properties of the
HVOF WC–10Co–4Cr coatings were examined by
Vickers indentation method by means of a 2RC-S Dia
Tester (Wolpert) hardness testing machine.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Porosity
Figure 2(a) and 2(b) illustrates a typical SEM image of
the transverse section of WC–10Co–4Cr coating sample
in as-coated condition and the corresponding image
analysis photograph. As can be seen in this figure, the
porosity content is very low. The average percent of
porosity content for coating samples before grinding
was 0.83. This was expected due to the high particle
impact velocity in HVOF process, since it compresses
most air pockets out of the coating microstructure.
A typical SEM photograph of the as-ground
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photograph are illustrated in Fig. 2(c) and 2(d), respect-
ively. Experimental results demonstrated that after
grinding there was a slight increase in the WC–10Co–
4Cr coating porosity, as shown in Fig. 2(e). Almost in
all the studied ranges of the grinding parameters, the
porosity content of coating increased after grinding.
This is owing to a little amount of microcracks gener-
ated by the grinding process [indicated by arrows in
Fig. 2(c)], that is, due to the mechanical loading of
coating by diamond grits of the grinding wheel. The
microcracks themselves and the pores caused by WC
particles dislodgment during polishing due to the exist-
ence of microcracks are the possible reasons for an
increase in porosity content after grinding.
Representative results for the porosity content of
as-ground coating samples as a function of depth of
cut, table feed rate, and wheel speed have been illu-
strated in Fig. 3(a)–3(c), respectively. As can be seen,
when ap and vw were increased or vs was decreased, there
was a little increase in porosity content. The reason for
these variations is the rising applied mechanical load

coating sample and the corresponding image analysis on coating by increasing ap and vw or by decreasing vs.

FIGURE 2.—(a) SEM image of the transverse section of the as-coated WC–10Co–4Cr coating sample and (b) the corresponding image analysis photograph
(porosity ¼ 0.80%), (c) SEM image of the transverse section of the as-ground WC–10Co–4Cr coating sample (ap ¼ 4 mm, vw ¼ 142 mm=s, and vs ¼ 30 m=s)
and (d) the corresponding image analysis photograph (porosity ¼ 0.96%), (e) comparison of coating porosity content before and after grinding.
 EFFECT OF GRINDING ON THE RESIDUAL STRESS AND ADHESION STRENGTH
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FIGURE 3.—Porosity content of WC–10Co–4Cr coating vs. (a) depth of cut (vw ¼ 550 mm=s and vs ¼ 30 m=s), (b) feed rate (ap ¼ 22 mm and vs ¼ 20 m=s),
(c) cutting speed (ap ¼ 4 mm and vw ¼ 142 mm=s), and (d) maximum undeformed chip thickness.
It can be related in turn to the maximum undeformed
chip thickness, hm, parameter. The value of hm is
considered as the abrasive grit penetration into the
workpiece and in that sense is the grain depth of cut,
and can be approximated as [20]
"

1=2 #1=2
3 vw ap
hm ¼
Ctan h vs ds
Where h, C, and ds are the semi-included angle of
undeformed chip cross-section, the active abrasive grit
density, and the grinding wheel diameter, respectively.
With the increase of ap and vw, and=or with the decrease
of vs, the value of hm is increased (Eq. (8)). On the other
hand, the grinding force increases according to the rise
in the grit depth of cut [13]. At the same time, the
applied mechanical load on coating is increased, and
thus leads to an increase in microcracks and therefore
to an increase in porosity content [Fig. 3(d)].
Equation (8) was employed to calculate the value of
hm parameter in Fig. 3(d). For this purpose, ds ¼ 350 mm
mm and h was assumed to be 60 . Also, the value of C
has been calculated by the geometric equation [21]:
4f
C¼
dg ð4p=3vÞ2=3
2
1143
where f, dg, and v are the proportion of abrasive grains
that actively involved in cutting action, the average
diameter of abrasive grits, and the volume proportion
of abrasive particles in the grinding wheel, respectively.
In this work, f ¼ 0.5 by assuming that 1=2 of the dia-
mond grits on the surface of the wheel are actively
involved in the grinding process. The concentration
ð8Þ number of the wheel used in this experiment was 75 that
is equivalent to 3.3 carat=cm3 by weight or 18.75% by
volume of diamond abrasive on wheel, thus the volume
fraction is 0.1875. Also, the average diameter of abrasive
grits is dg ¼ 76 mm. Substituting the values of f, v, and dg
in Eq. (9), gives C ¼ 43.65 mm2.
Residual Stress
The measurement of coating residual stress was
performed using XRD method and sin2w technique.
Figure 4(a) shows a typical plot of dw vs. sin2w for as-
sprayed coating in the transverse direction. The dw vs.
sin2w of the coating shows a negative slope that indicates
a compressive residual stress. According to the XRD
measurement results, the residual stresses of as-sprayed
WC–10Co–4Cr coating in both longitudinal and trans-
verse directions were compressive and their values were
rxx ¼ 125.8 MPa and ryy ¼ 133.4 MPa, respectively.
The slight difference between the values of residual stress
ð9Þ in longitudinal and transverse directions reveals that there
is no residual stress anisotropy in as-coated sample.
 1144
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FIGURE 4.—(a) The plot of dw vs. sin2w for as-coated WC–10Co–4Cr sample in the transverse direction (/ ¼90 ), (b) comparison of residual stress state
of WC–10Co–4Cr coating before and after grinding, and (c) SEM surface observation of the HVOF-sprayed coating ground by the resinoid-bonded
diamond wheel under ap ¼ 4 mm, vw ¼ 550 mm=s, and vs ¼ 30 m=s.
In this work, the residual stress of as-coated WC–
10Co–4Cr specimen had a compressive direction, which
agrees with the residual stress distributions reported for
as-sprayed WC–Co based coatings by many researchers
[7, 9]. Basically, residual stress generation in HVOF
coating arise from quenching, peening, and mismatch
of thermal expansion coefficient between substrate and
coating [22]. In this work, for WC–10Co–4Cr powder,
the WC particles were not softened by the HVOF tem-
perature. The impingement of these hard and solid par-
ticles to steel substrate or to successive coating layers at
high velocity of HVOF process caused plastic defor-
mation on the pre-deposited layer and therefore induced
the residual stress in compressive direction. In fact, the
mass kinetic energy of WC particles is converted into
compressive stress. Conversely, the quenching stress is
always tensile. Quenching stress originates from the
restrained contraction of individual spray particles when
they cool down rapidly to the substrate temperature.
However, the quenching stress is in many conditions
relatively low (less than 100 MPa) [14]. On the other
hand, the direction of mismatch stress is dependent on
the relationship between the substrate and coating
thermal expansion coefficients. Mismatch stress can be
either tensile or compressive [22]. In this work,
the thermal expansion coefficient of steel substrate
and WC–10Co–4Cr coating were 12
106K1 and
H. MASOUMI ET AL.
5.5
106K1, respectively. Thus, the mismatch stress
is compressive, since as the temperature decreases, the
coating contracts by a smaller amount than the
substrate.
Considering the results mentioned above, the nature
of the overall residual stresses in the as-coated WC–
10Co–4Cr samples are determined by the combined
effect of the tensile quenching stress, the compressive
peening stress, and the compressive mismatch stress.
The final residual stresses of WC–10Co–4Cr coating
had a compressive nature indicating that the mismatch
and peening components have a decisive role in the final
direction of the residual stress. The coefficient of thermal
expansion for substrate is more than twice of that for
HVOF WC–10Co–4Cr coating; it is a dominant factor
in the resultant compressive nature of the overall
residual stress.
The XRD method was also employed to determine the
coating residual stress after grinding under different con-
ditions. The average value of residual stresses obtained
from all ground coating samples was compared with
that from as-sprayed sample in both longitudinal and
transverse directions in Fig. 4(b). As illustrated, the
residual stresses of as-ground coatings were compressive
similar to those in the as-sprayed coating. However, the
compressive residual stress of the as-ground samples was
higher than that of the as-coated sample.
 EFFECT OF GRINDING ON THE RESIDUAL STRESS AND ADHESION STRENGTH
Basically, residual stresses in ground samples can
originate due to combination of three main mechanisms:
thermal-plastic deformation, mechanical-plastic defor-
mation, and phase transformation [23]. Grinding
investigations proved that the most important para-
meter in the residual stresses generation in tensile
direction during grinding is thermal expansion and con-
traction (thermal-plastic deformation) [24]. Since the
appropriate coolant was employed during grinding in
this work, the amount of heat induced into the coating
was minimal. It was found that the lower temperature
of grinding process causes reduced or complete elimin-
ation of residual stresses in tensile direction [24]. Thus,
the thermal-plastic deformation could not be considered
as an effective mechanism for the variations in the
residual stress values after grinding. On the other hand,
phase transformation could be an important factor in
generation of residual stress, usually in grinding of
hardened steels [23]. Furthermore, it was reported that
no phase transformations have been shown in the
HVOF WC–Co based coatings during grinding [7]. In
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fact, no such transformation will occur if suitable heat-
dissipation conditions are provided during grinding.
Therefore, in this work, mechanical-plastic deformation
may be the main reason for an increase in the residual
stresses values in compressive direction after grinding.
It was found that the grinding-induced residual
stresses due to mechanical-plastic deformation have a
compressive nature [23, 24]. The grinding-induced
residual stresses in compressive direction are because
FIGURE 5.—Compressive residual stresses of WC–10Co–4Cr coating vs. (a) depth of cut (vw ¼ 550 mm=s and vs ¼ 30 m=s), (b) feed rate (ap ¼ 22 mm and
vs ¼ 20 m=s), and (c) cutting speed (ap ¼ 4 mm and vw ¼ 142 mm=s).
1145
of the Hertzian loads and shear forces from the grinding
wheel during the diamond grits-coating surface interac-
tion. As shown in the SEM photograph of the ground
surface of the HVOF-coated WC–10Co–4Cr specimen
in Fig. 4(c), the mechanical action of the diamond
abrasive grits causes permanent plastic deformation in
the coating surface, avoiding the full recovery of
sub-layer elastic deformation, and thus increasing the
magnitude of the coating residual stresses in compress-
ive direction.
Figure 5(a)–5(c) shows the influence of grinding para-
meters on the residual stress. As can be observed in this
figure, in all the grinding experiment conditions, the
residual stress values normal to the grinding direction
were higher than those in parallel direction. The reason
for such residual stress anisotropy in as-ground coating
samples lie in the fact that the volume of coating normal
to the grinding direction was deformed more plastically
than that along the grinding direction by ductile flow
due to plowing [Fig. 4(c)].
The values of the compressive residual stresses
increases with increasing ap and vw, and with decreasing
vs, but there is a decrease in r? as ap increases from 16 to
22 mm, and in r11 as vs decreases from 25 to 20 m=s, as
can be observed in Fig. 5. However, the increase trend
is very obvious. The higher compressive residual stresses
at higher depth of cut and feed rate values, and at lower
cutting speed values originate from larger grain depth of
cut and thus larger grinding force with more extent of
plastic deformations due to mechanical action of the
 1146
diamond abrasive grains. In fact, compressive residual
stresses increase with increasing amounts of plastic
deformation.
Machining-induced residual stress is a critical para-
meter for fatigue life of products [25]. According to the
results mentioned in this section, the residual stresses of
as-coated HVOF WC–10Co–4Cr sample had a compress-
ive nature and this stress had increased in compressive
direction after grinding. Compressive stress improves
the components strength, whereas tensile stress is almost
always deleterious [24]. The residual stress in compressive
direction can improve resistance to stress corrosion
cracking and fatigue fracture of the coating [26]. The
improvement of the performance of WC–10Co–4Cr coat-
ing after grinding because of the increased compressive
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FIGURE 6.—(a) Comparison of microhardness values of WC–10Co–4Cr coating before and after grinding; microhardness values of as-ground WC–10Co–
4Cr coating vs. (b) depth of cut (vw ¼ 273 mm=s and vs ¼ 25 m=s), (c) feed rate (ap ¼ 22 mm and vs ¼ 30 m=s), (d) cutting speed (ap ¼ 10 mm and
vw ¼ 273 mm=s), and (e) maximum undeformed chip thickness.
H. MASOUMI ET AL.
residual stress has been studied in the next sections using
the investigation of the adhesion and cohesion strength
and the microhardness of coating.
Microhardness
The microhardness measurements of the HVOF WC–
10Co–4Cr coating samples were carried out on the
polished cross-section. The average Vickers microhard-
ness of the as-sprayed coating was 1347.3 Kg=mm2. In
this research, the measured microhardness of as-sprayed
coating was generally higher than that reported for
HVOF WC–Co based coatings by other researchers [7,
9]. This is possible because of the different HVOF pro-
cess parameters and because of the existence of the Cr
 EFFECT OF GRINDING ON THE RESIDUAL STRESS AND ADHESION STRENGTH
in coating. In general, high microhardness values of
HVOF WC–Co based coatings are because of the fact
that these coatings show a high compact and dense
microstructure, since the particles of WC–Co are
imparted in the substrate with a relatively high velocity.
Also, the hard WC phase (2400 HV [22]) in this cermet
coatings lead to high coating microhardness.
As previously mentioned, the magnitude of the coat-
ing porosity was increased after grinding. On the other
hand, the increase of porosity leads to a decrease of
coating hardness [22]. Thus, it is expected that the
microhardness of HVOF WC–10Co–4Cr coating after
grinding should be lower than that before grinding.
However, as illustrated in Fig. 6(a), experimental results
demonstrate that there is an obvious increase in the
microhardness values of WC–10Co–4Cr coating after
grinding. The reason for such unexpected behavior is
the increased compressive residual stress in coating after
grinding. It can therefore be stated that the residual
stress is more effective than the coating porosity content
in determining the microhardness of the WC–10Co–4Cr
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coating.
Some studies have demonstrated that as the compress-
ive residual stress is increased, the coating hardness is
improved [9, 27–29]. This is due to the existence of lat-
tice defects in the microstructure of coatings, which
behaves as an obstruction for motion of dislocations,
and due to the coating densification [28]. A coating with
compressive residual stress resists the indenter pen-
etration and therefore shows a value of microhardness
higher than its intrinsic microhardness [29].
Figure 6(b)–6(d) summarizes the average values of
microhardness versus depth of cut, table feed rate, and
wheel speed, respectively. It is worth noting that similar
trends were obtained as well for the residual stress
FIGURE 7.—Example of crack observations for as-sprayed coating at the different applied loads: (a) 5 kg, (b) 10 kg, (c) 15.625 kg, and (d) 20 kg; and
(e) representation of lnP–lna relation.
1147
variation, as illustrated in Fig. 5. As can be observed
in Fig. 6(b) and 6(c), the coating’s microhardness
increased with increasing ap and vw because of the
increased residual stress in compressive direction at the
higher values of ap and vw due to the larger maximum
undeformed chip thickness values. Increasing hm values
resulted in increases of grit depth of cut, grinding force,
and thus plastic deformation, at the same time, the
coating’s microhardness is increased with increasing
compressive residual stress [Fig. 6(e)]. The effect of
decreasing cutting speed is similar to that discussed for
increasing ap and vw [Fig. 6(d)]. All these processing
effects are related to variations in grit depth of cut.
Adhesion and Cohesion Strength
The Vickers indentation tests at the coating–substrate
interface were employed to evaluate the adhesion
strength of WC–10Co–4Cr coating. The indentation
tests were carried out with loads varying from 1 to
31.250 kg. Figure 7 illustrates the typical optical micro-
graphs of the Vickers indentation tests at the interface
of as-sprayed samples at the different applied loads.
No cracks were generated when the indentation tests
were performed using the 1, 2, and 3 kg loads. However,
the cracks were observed at the higher loads, such as 5,
10, 15.625, and 20 kg, as shown in Fig. 7(a)–7(d). The
cracks introduced by the loads varying between 5 to
31.250 kg remained in the interface plane [zone 1 in
Fig. 1(d)] and no cracks were deviated into the coating
(zone 2). Crack length (2a) was then accurately mea-
sured by optical microscopy. The results were plotted
in bilogarithmic coordinates (the mean crack length ver-
sus the applied load), as shown in Fig. 7(e). As can be
seen in this figure, the critical point (Pc ¼ 48.62 N and
 1148 H. MASOUMI ET AL.

TABLE 2.— Mechanical characteristics of coating, substrate, and coating– 10Co–4Cr coating. The fracture toughness, which may
substrate interface. be a symbol of the cohesion properties of the WC–
 E 1=2 10Co–4Cr coating, was calculated using the Eq. (7).
Young’s modulus Vickers microhardness H The average value of Kc ¼ 2.825 MPa m1=2 was obtained
WC–10Co–4Cr Ec ¼ 316 GPa Hc ¼ 13.217 GPa  E 1=2 for the coating in as-sprayed condition.
¼ 4.890
coating
H c A similar procedure was employed to determine the
Low carbon steel Es ¼ 211 GPa Hs ¼ 1.629 GPa  E 1=2 values of Kca and Kc for WC–10Co–4Cr coating samples
H s ¼ 11.381
substrate after grinding under different process parameters. Con-
 E 1=2
Coating–
H i ¼ 9.694 trary to as-sprayed samples, for most of the as-ground
substrate coating specimens, no crack was seen when the Vickers
interface test was performed using a 5 kg load. Figure 8 presents
the lnP–lna plots of the as-ground samples under differ-
ent grinding conditions. The corresponding values of Pc
ac ¼ 74.72 mm) was determined as the point that and ac are shown in this figure. The average values of Kca
underneath no interface cracking is seen. Table 2 collects and Kc obtained from all ground coating samples were
the calculated values and the experimental results as well compared with that from as-sprayed sample in Fig. 9(a)
as the hardness (Section 3.3) data and the elastic and 9(b). As can be observed, both Kca and Kc values of
modulus (from Nanoindentation test) necessary for the the HVOF WC–10Co–4Cr coating increased after
computation of the Kca. The apparent interfacial frac- grinding. By comparing Fig. 9(a) and 9(b) through
ture toughness was calculated by Eq. (5), and the aver- Fig. 6(a), it is seen that both fracture toughness and
age value of Kca ¼ 10.946 MPa m1=2 was obtained for microhardness have similar trends versus grinding pro-
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as-sprayed coating. cess. The reason for this behavior is the increased com-
Also, the Vickers indentation tests within the coating pressive residual stress in coating after grinding.
were used to evaluate the cohesion strength of WC– Considering that there was an increase in the porosity

FIGURE 8.—Relation between indentation loads (P) and corresponding crack lengths (a) for as-ground coating samples, under vw ¼ 550 mm=s and
vs ¼ 30 m=s, at (a) ap ¼ 4 mm, (b) ap ¼ 10 mm, (c) ap ¼ 16 mm, and (d) ap ¼ 22 mm; under ap ¼ 22 mm and vs ¼ 20 m=s, at (e) vw ¼ 142 mm=s, (f) vw ¼ 273 mm=s,
(g) vw ¼ 413 mm=s, and (h) vw ¼ 550 mm=s; under ap ¼ 4 mm and vw ¼ 142 mm=s, at (i) vs ¼ 20 m=s, (j) vs ¼ 25 m=s, (k) vs ¼ 30 m=s, and (l) vs ¼ 35 m=s.
 EFFECT OF GRINDING ON THE RESIDUAL STRESS AND ADHESION STRENGTH
FIGURE 9.—(a) Comparison of Kca values of coating before and after grinding, (b) Comparison of Kc values of coating before and after grinding; Kca values
Downloaded by [37.255.121.168] at 07:35 09 August 2014
of WC–10Co–4Cr coating vs. (c) hm, (d) ap (vw ¼ 550 mm=s and vs ¼ 30 m=s), (e) vw (ap ¼ 22 mm and vs ¼ 20 m=s), and (f) vs (ap ¼ 4 mm and vw ¼ 142 mm=s).
content of WC–10Co–4Cr coating after grinding, it can
therefore be inferred that the residual stress is more
effective than the coating porosity content in determin-
ing the adhesion and cohesion strength of the WC–
10Co–4Cr coating.
Figure 9(d)–9(f) summarizes the average values of
interfacial fracture toughness as a function of ap, vw,
and vs, respectively. As can be seen, the magnitude of
the interfacial fracture toughness increased with ap and
vw and decreased as vs was elevated. Similar behavior
was observed in the case of coating fracture toughness.
Increasing ap and vw or decreasing vs, increases maxi-
mum undeformed chip thickness, increases mechanical
loading of abrasive grits during grinding, increases com-
pressive residual stresses of coating, and thus increases
fracture toughness [Fig. 9(c)].
As previously mentioned, the residual stresses of the
HVOF WC–10Co–4Cr coating increased in compressive
direction after grinding. It has been proved that the
compressive residual stress in coating prevents crack
initiation and propagation [27]. In fact, the coating
residual stresses in compressive direction would delay
the effect of applied shear stresses and blunt the tips of
cracks, therefore preventing crack initiation and propa-
gation. Thus, the higher mechanical properties are
observed for the coating with the higher values of com-
pressive stress [29].
Previous investigations [30] have shown that the com-
pressive residual stress can deform the coated sample
and result in a convex curvature. On the other hand,
tensile residual stress can cause a concave curvature in
coating. Thus, for the coating samples containing
compressive and tensile residual stresses, the resultant
bending moments at the coating–substrate interface
are toward the substrate and toward the coating,
respectively. Therefore, the compressive residual stress
1149
enhances the interfacial adhesion, while tensile stress
promotes the interfacial debonding.
The improvement of the adhesion and cohesion
strength of coating samples after grinding [Fig. 9(a)
and 9(b)] due to the increased residual stress in com-
pressive direction can also be explained by the corre-
lation between inter-atomic spacing and residual stress
conditions. It has been proved that atoms locate at a
balanced inter-atomic distance, r0. Theoretically, the
atomic bonds start breaking (or the cracks start grow-
ing) when the inter-atomic distance reaches a value over
than rmax under a tensile force larger than the maximum
atomic bonding force, Fmax. When the final residual
stresses of coating have a compressive nature, the
inter-atomic spacing is reduced, and thus the greater
applied forces are required to break atomic bonds [29].
Therefore, the adhesion and cohesion strength of the
HVOF WC–10Co–4Cr coatings containing higher
values of compressive residual stresses were observed
higher than those with lower values of compressive
stresses [Fig. 9(d)–9(f)].
CONCLUSIONS
In this research, the adhesion and cohesion strength,
porosity, and microhardness of the WC–10Co–4Cr coat-
ings under the effect of residual stresses were studied.
From the experimental results, the most important
conclusions can be summarized as follows:
. There was a little increase in the porosity content
after grinding because of the induced microcracks
by the grinding process due to the mechanical
loading of coating by diamond grits of the wheel.
. The residual stresses of as-sprayed WC–10Co–4Cr
coating in both parallel and normal directions
 1150
were compressive, and there was no residual stress
anisotropy in as-sprayed coating. The mismatch
and peening stress components have a decisive
role in the final compressive direction of the
residual stress.
. The residual stresses of as-ground coating samples
were compressive and were higher than that of the
as-coated samples. The grinding-induced residual
stress in compressive direction was due to the
shear forces and Hertzian loads from the grinding
wheel during the diamond grits-coating surface
interaction (mechanical-plastic deformation).
. The compressive residual stresses increase with
increasing ap and vw, and with decreasing vs due
to the increased single grain depth of cut.
. It was observed that r? > r11; the reason for such
residual stress anisotropy in as-ground coating
samples lie in the fact that the volume of coating
normal to the grinding direction was deformed
more plastically than that along the grinding
direction by ductile flow due to plowing.
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. The microhardness and both Kca and Kc values of
the HVOF WC–10Co–4Cr coating increased after
grinding due to the increased compressive residual
stresses.
. The residual stress is more effective than the coat-
ing porosity content in determining the adhesion
and cohesion strength and the microhardness of
the WC–10Co–4Cr coating.
. A coating with compressive residual stress resists
the indenter penetration and therefore shows a
value of microhardness higher than its intrinsic
microhardness.
. When the final residual stresses of WC–10Co–4Cr
coating have a compressive nature, the inter-
atomic spacing is reduced, and thus the greater
applied forces are required to break atomic bonds,
and therefore the higher adhesion and cohesion
strength is observed.
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