To improve the wear resistance of high-strength and high-conductivity Cu-Cr-Zr alloys in high-speed and heavy load friction environments, coatings including Ni-Cu, Ni-Cu-10(W,Si), Ni-Cu-10(Mo,W,Si), and Ni-Cu-15(Mo,W,Si) (with an atomic ratio of Mo,W to Si of 1:2) were prepared using coaxial powder-feeding laser cladding technology. The microstructure and wear performance of coatings were chiefly investigated. The results revealed that (Mo,W)Si2 and MoNiSi phases are found in the Ni-Cu-10(Mo,W,Si) and Ni-Cu-15(Mo,W,Si) coating. WSi2 phases are found in the Ni-Cu-10(W,Si) coating. The degree of grain refinement in Ni-Cu-10(Mo,W,Si) was greater than that of the Ni-Cu-10(W,Si) coating after the effect of Mo. The excellent wear resistance and micro-hardness of the Ni-Cu-15(Mo,W,Si) coating were attributed to the increase in its dispersion phase, which were approximately 34.72 mg/km and 428 HV, 27.1% and 590% higher than the Cu-Cr-Zr substrate, respectively. The existence of silicide plays an important role in grain refinement due to the promotion of nucleation and the inhibition of grain growth. In addition, the wear mechanism transformed from adhesive wear in the Ni-Cu coating with no silicides to abrasive wear in the Ni-Cu-15(Mo,W,Si) coating with high levels of silicides.
Keywords: Cu–Cr–Zr alloys; laser cladding; mental silicides; wear resistance.