The high-velocity oxygen-fuel (HVOF) spraying process was used to fabricate conventional WC-10Co-4Cr coatings and FeCrSiBMn amorphous/nanocrystalline coatings. The synergistic effect of cavitation erosion and corrosion of both coatings was investigated. The results showed that the WC-10Co-4Cr coating had better cavitation erosion-corrosion resistance than the FeCrSiBMn coating in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution. After eroded for 30 h, the volume loss rate of the WC-10Co-4Cr coating was about 2/5 that of the FeCrSiBMn coating. In the total cumulative volume loss rate under cavitation erosion-corrosion condition, the pure cavitation erosion played a key role for both coatings, and the total contribution of pure corrosion and erosion-induced corrosion of the WC-10Co-4Cr coating was larger than that of the FeCrSiBMn coating. Mechanical effect was the main factor for cavitation erosion-corrosion behavior of both coatings.

The high-velocity oxygen-fuel (HVOF) spraying process was used to prepare near-nanostructured WC-10Co-4Cr coating. The cavitation erosion behavior and mechanism of the coating in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution were analyzed in detail. The results showed that the amorphous phase and WC grain were present in the coating. The cavitation erosion resistance of the coating was about 1.27 times that of the stainless steel 1Cr18Ni9Ti under the same testing conditions. The effects of erosion time on the microstructural evolution were discussed. It was revealed that cracks initiated at the edge of pre-existing pores and propagated along the carbide-binder interface, leading to the pull-out of carbide particle and the formation of pits and craters on the surface. The main failure mechanism of the coating was erosion of the binder phases, brittle detachment of hard phases and formation of pitting corrosion products.

A Fe-based amorphous/nanocrystalline coating was prepared on the AISI 321 steel by the high-velocity oxygen-fuel (HVOF) thermal spraying technology in this paper. Cavitation erosion behavior and mechanism of the coating was studied through the analysis of curves for cavitation erosion resistance versus time and the observation of eroded particles, with the AISI 321 steel as a reference. It was found that the Fe-based coating had better cavitation erosion resistance than the AISI 321 steel, and exhibited obvious periodic failure behavior in the cavitation erosion process. Besides, the crystallization of the amorphous phase under the effect of shock wave was observed. The cavitation erosion mathematic model of the coating was also established. The model indicated that the cavitation erosion resistance of the coating was related to the grain size and the fracture energy per unit area of the coating. Small grain size and high fracture energy per unit area were benefit to improve the cavitation erosion resistance of the Fe-based coating.

The arc spraying process was used to prepare Fe-based amorphous/nanocrystalline coating. The cavitation erosion behaviors of FeNiCrBSiNbW coatings with different surface roughness levels were investigated in distilled water. The results showed that FeNiCrBSiNbW coating adhered well to the substrate, and was compact with porosity of less than 2%. With increasing initial surface roughness, the coatings showed an increase in mass loss of cavitation erosion damage. The amount of pre-existing defects on the initial surface of the coatings was found to be a significant factor for the difference in the cavitation erosion behavior. The cavitation erosion damage for the coatings was a brittle erosion mode. The evolution of the cavitation erosion mechanism of the coatings with the increase of the initial surface roughness was micro-cracks, pits, detachment of fragments, craters, cracks, pullout of the un-melted particle, and massive exfoliations.

The effect of ultrasonic cavitation erosion on electrochemical corrosion behavior of high-velocity oxygen-fuel (HVOF) sprayed near-nanostructured WC-10Co-4Cr coating in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution, was investigated using free corrosion potential, potentiodynamic polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in comparison with stainless steel 1Cr18Ni9Ti. The results showed that cavitation erosion strongly enhanced the cathodic current density, shifted the free corrosion potential in the anodic direction, and reduced the magnitude of impedance of the coating. The impedance of the coating decreased more slowly under cavitation conditions than that of the stainless steel 1Cr18Ni9Ti, suggesting that corrosion behavior of the coating was less affected by cavitation erosion than that of the stainless steel.