Wear behavior of nanocrystalline FeCoNiCrMoW high-entropy alloy coating on copper-substrate: influence of applied load

Sliding wear-resistant coatings with a low wear rate and coefficient of friction are essential for Cu based components used in high-friction environments. In this study, a wear-resistant FeCoNiCrMoW high-entropy alloy (HEA) was developed on a Cu substrate using an electrodeposition process. The HEA coating was synthesized using a chloride-based aqueous electrolyte. The sliding wear of the deposited coating was evaluated under varying loads from 5 to 11 N using a ball-on-disc tribometer. All wear tests were conducted using Si 3 N 4 balls as the counter body. The results demonstrated that the deposited FeCoNiCrMoW HEA coating had superior wear resistance across all load ranges compared to the Cu substrate. The wear rate of the coating varied in the range of 7.96 × 10 –7 –2.01 × 10 –7 mm 3 /N m at load ranges from 5 to 11 N. The coating exhibited excellent wear resistance at an applied load of 11 N. At a load of 11 N, the HEA coating had ≈ 99.90% lower wear rate than the Cu substrate. Notably, the deposited coating helped the in-situ formation of lubricious oxide phases and protective brittle oxides on the worn surface at 11 N.