Estimation of indenter depth during frictional treatment of nickel-based coatings using optical profilometry

The paper determines the effect of frictional treatment of nickel-based coatings of different initial hardness on the degree of their hardening and the depth of the indenter's impact on the surface layer. Frictional treatment was carried out with hemispherical sliding indenters made of finely dispersed cubic boron nitride under a load of 150 N for coating A (wt.%: Cr – 14.8, B – 2.1, Si – 2.9, C – 0.48, Fe – 2.6, Ni – base) and 500 N for coating B (wt.%: Cr – 18.2, B – 3.3, Si – 4.2, C – 0.92, Fe – 2.6, Ni – base). Using instrumental microindentation and optical profilometry, it was shown that the deformation of the softer and more ductile coating A proceeds more significantly: its hardening during frictional treatment reaches 56%, and the indenter impact depth is up to 3.8 μm, while the corresponding indicators for the harder coating B are 8% and 1.5 μm. The depth of the indenter impact must be considered if frictional treatment is used as a finishing operation for parts with nickel coatings.