The corrosion behaviour of WC-Co-Cr thermal-spray coatings has been given more attention lately due to their increased use in tribological applications where corrosion can occur. In this paper the mechanisms of corrosion of a WC-Co-Cr coating are presented with the focus on understanding the oxidation, dissolution rates and mechanisms in 3.5% NaCl at different temperatures. Coating characterization prior to and after corrosion was carried out using scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). DC electrochemical accelerated corrosion techniques (potentiodynamic and potentiostatic tests) were performed in order to evaluate the corrosion properties of the coating. Aider the corrosion tests the solution was analysed using the Inductively Couple Plasma (ICP) technique and a considerable amount of dissolved tungsten was detected. Through linking electrochemical information with water analysis, a sequence of reactions involved in corrosion of WC-Co-Cr is proposed. The practical implications in relation to corrosion and erosion-corrosion are also discussed.
Keywords: corrosion, thermal spray, coating, cermet.