cr3c2 is a low-melting-point inorganic material with excellent wear resistance, corrosion resistance and resistivity to oxidation at high temperature. It is mainly used as thermal spray materials for surface protection of metal parts and alloys, to refine the crystal structure of cemented carbide and as a coating additive to increase wear and corrosion resistance.
Typical applications include hydraulic cylinders as a hard chrome alternative for wear protection, and metal surface finishing in the manufacturing of components. This chromium carbide powder is sprayed onto metal surfaces using flame, plasma, or HVOF (high velocity oxy-fuel) spray techniques to produce coatings that have excellent resistance to elevated temperature erosion and sliding wear.
Chromic carbides have unique properties that are derived from their chemical structure. Unlike TiC, all chromium carbides have lower melting points than pure chromium and possess a combination of metallic, ionic and covalent bonding characteristics.
In addition, all chromium carbides have a different crystalline structure and a variety of different bonding mechanisms. This is due to the different degrees of ionic and metallic bonding between chromium and its oxides.
For example, the h-CrC phase has a higher ionic bonding than the c-CrC and WC phases and a different electronegativity difference. It is more brittle than the c-CrC phase and exhibits lower elastic constants and elastic anisotropies than the other carbides.
The WC-10Co cemented carbides modified with different mass fractions of cr3c2 up to 1.5 wt% have a two-fold effect on their properties: the adsorption of the additive determines a decrease of the grain size and the formation of the M7C3 carbide, a hard and brittle phase that increases the bulk hardness and the abrasion resistance. Above the 1.5 wt% of cr3c2, however, the hardness of the binder increases and the volume loss decreases.