Production and wear behaviour of micro-arc coated magnesium alloys

The objective of this study is to produce micro-arc oxide coatings on magnesium alloys and to investigate their structural, mechanical and tribological properties. Micro-Arc Oxidation (MAO) is an environmentally friendly and novel surface technology that forms a protective and well adhered ceramic coating on light metals such as magnesium, aluminium and titanium. In this study, AZ91D and AM60B magnesium alloys commonly used in automotive and aerospace industries were surface-treated using Keronite MAO equipment in an alkaline electrolyte with low concentrations of potassium hydroxide, potassium phosphate tribasic and sodium aluminate. Two different MAO coatings of 10 microns and 25 microns thickness were obtained. The microstructure and phase composition of MAO coatings were analysed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) respectively. The scratch tests were carried out to determine the adhesion strength of the MAO coatings. The tribological behaviour of MAO coatings under dry sliding conditions against 100Cr6 steel ball was investigated using ball-on-plate test configuration. The results indicated that the adhesion strength of MAO coatings was improved with increasing coating thickness. The MAO coatings significantly enhanced the wear resistance of magnesium alloys with increasing coating thickness. For uncoated magnesium alloys, abrasive and adhesive wear mechanisms acted together during sliding motion while abrasive wear mechanism was predominant for MAO coatings.