Effect of Al2TiO5 powder coating on the tribological, corrosion and mechanical properties of AISI 316L stainless steel

The aim of the current research is to examine the tribological, corrosion and mechanical properties of AISI 316L stainless steel without and with Al _2 TiO _5 surface coating. AISI 316L is selected for the study, owing to its extensive usage in power plant and marine members that are usually subjected to wear, fatigue and corrosion either separately or in a combinatorial mode from mild to severe intensities. Al _2 TiO _5 coating is provided to components to improve their tribological, corrosion and mechanical properties. Being a ceramic material, Al _2 TiO _5 coating is expected to improve the properties under consideration. The coated specimens are analyzed by considering two factors viz. ‘speed of rotation of job’ and ‘axial speed of the spray gun’, applying Taguchi L _4 array. Coating of Al _2 TiO _5 on AISI 316L substrate increased the corrosion resistance, coefficient of friction and micro-hardness, however the wear rate and fatigue life decreased. Twenty times reduction in wear rate is recorded with the coating of Al _2 TiO _5 on the base material when compared to the uncoated counterpart. The wear rate has also decreased by 16% with the increase in coating thickness from 300 to 375 μ m. The fatigue life of the coated specimens reduced by around 12% while their corrosion resistance increased by 20% when compared to the uncoated specimens.