An interface shear damage model of chromium coating/steel substrate under thermal erosion load

• Main Authors: Xiao-long Li, Yong Zang, Yong Lian, Min-yu Ma, Lei Mu, Qin Qin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2021-04-01
• Series: Defence Technology
• Subjects: Cr coating/steel substrate; Thermal erosion; Finite element simulation; Ultimate shear strength; Interface shear damage model
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214914719311109

The Cr-plated coating inside a gun barrel can effectively improve the barrel’s erosion resistance and thus increase the service life. However, due to the cyclic thermal load caused by high-temperature gunpowder, micro-element damage tends to occur within the Cr coating/steel substrate interface, leading to a gradual deterioration in macro-mechanical properties for the material in the related region. In order to mimic this cyclic thermal load and, thereby, study the thermal erosion behavior of the Cr coating on the barrel’s inner wall, a laser emitter is utilized in the current study. With the help of in-situ tensile test and finite element simulation results, a shear stress distribution law of the Cr coating/steel substrate and a change law of the interface ultimate shear strength are identified. Studies have shown that the Cr coating/steel substrate interface’s ultimate shear strength has a significant weakening effect due to increasing temperature. In this study, the interfacial ultimate shear strength decreases from 2.57 GPa (no erosion) to 1.02 GPa (laser power is 160 W). The data from this experiment is employed to establish a Cr coating/steel substrate interface shear damage model. And this model is used to predict the flaking process of Cr coating by finite element method. The simulation results show that the increase of coating crack spacing and coating thickness will increase the service life of gun barrel.