Effect of Cr3C2 Additives on the Structure and Properties of Cantor Alloy Coatings

The method of non-vacuum electron beam cladding is used to obtain coatings based on a high-entropy Cantor alloy reinforced with Cr₃C₂ particles. The microstructure of the coatings is studied; the chemical and phase compositions are determined; microhardness measurements, wear resistance and heat resistance tests are performed. The structure of the coatings is represented by an fcc matrix with Me₇C₃ carbides. Increase in the percentage of reinforcing particles leads to elevation of the proportion of the carbide phase in the cladding layer. The addition of carbide particles results in growth of the microhardness, wear resistance and oxidation resistance. The structure of the coating obtained from a powder mixture with 50 wt.% Cr₃C₂ exhibits a 60% volume fraction of carbides. The properties have the highest values in the coating obtained from a mixture with 50 wt.% carbide particles in the initial composition. Its hardness is 1071 ± 114 HV_0.1, and the wear resistance and the oxidation resistance increase with respect to the unreinforced coating by a factor of 15.3 and 3.3 respectively.