RESEARCH ON IMPROVED THERMALLY SPRAYED ALUMINUM NON-SKID COATINGS IS PROPOSED.

RESEARCH ON IMPROVED THERMALLY SPRAYED ALUMINUM NON-SKID COATINGS IS PROPOSED. THE IMPROVED COATINGS ARE ALUMINUM-ALUMINUM OXIDE METAL MATRIX COMPOSITES RATHER THAN PURE ALUMINUM. COMPARED TO CONVENTIONAL THERMALLY SPRAYED PURE ALUMINUM COATINGS, THE COMPOSITES HAVE DEMONSTRATED HIGHER HARDNESS AND BOND STRENGTH AND ARE EXPECTED TO DEMONSTRATE IMPROVED WEAR RESISTANCE AND INCREASED FRICTION COEFFICIENT AND CORROSION RESISTANCE. A SYSTEMATIC STUDY WILL BE PERFORMED TO PRODUCE PURE ALUMINUM COATINGS AS A BASELINE AND THE IMPROVED ALUMINUM-ALUMINUM OXIDE COMPOSITE COATINGS BY BOTH POWDER SPRAY AND ARCH WIRE SPRAY. PROCESS PARAMETERS TO BE INVESTIGATED INCLUDE SURFACE PREPARATION TECHNIQUES, BOND COATS, OXIDE PHASE LOADING (COATING COMPOSITION) AND THERMAL SPRAY METHOD. EVALUATION OF THE EXPERIMENTAL COATINGS WILL BE BY MEANS OF METALLOGRAPHIC EXAMINATION, HARDNESS/MICROHARDNESS MEASUREMENTS, BOND STRENGTH MEASUREMENTS AND STATIC/DYNAMIC FRICTION TESTING.