Reciprocating Sliding Wear of Cu, Cu-SiC Functionally Graded Coating on Electrical Contact

The present work evaluates the coefficient of friction (CoF), electrical resistivity, and electrical contact resistance (ECR) of the electrodeposited single-layered Cu-SiC nanocomposite coating and five-layered Cu, Cu-SiC functionally graded coating (FGC). Both the coatings have a similar thickness (60 µm) and same composition at the top surface (7 vol.% reinforced SiC nanoparticles), while the FGC has a gradient of composition and microstructure throughout the thickness. The Cu, Cu-SiC FGC has two layers of Cu-SiC with a decrement in the content of SiC nanoparticles from 7 to 2 vol.% followed by three Cu layers with an increasing crystallite size towards the substrate. The electrical resistivity of the Cu, Cu-SiC FGC is measured by the four-wire resistance measurement method and the value is observed to be 50% less than the conventional nanocomposite coating. A linear reciprocating sliding wear test is carried out at 2, 5 and 8 N load at a constant frequency and stroke length of 10 Hz and 2 mm, respectively. The monitored value of CoF is significantly less for the Cu, Cu-SiC FGC than the single-layered coating at 2 and 5 N loads and is nearly equal at 8 N load. It is observed that before wear, the ECR values of both the coatings are higher than the uncoated Cu and after wear the ECR value of Cu, Cu-SiC FGC is the lowest.