Tribological Analysis of Chemically Bonded Phosphate Ceramic Coatings with Different Thickness by 3D FEM Modelling and Wear Test

In this paper, chemically bonded phosphate ceramic coatings with different thickness were prepared through sol-gel method. Aim of this paper is to model and simulate the wear process for coating with different thickness by finite element method (FEM) and to compare its results with the experimental wear results. Results show that coating thickness plays a significant role in the wear performance of the coating. The wear rate decreases with the increase in coating thickness. Through transient finite element simulation, it is found that the equivalent stress of the coating decreases with the increase in coating thickness. In particular, increasing coating thickness can significantly decrease the equivalent plastic strain of the coating-substrate system. The reason is that the equivalent hardness and fracture toughness of the coating-substrate system increase with the increase in coating thickness, which effectively enhances the ability of the coating to resist external pressure, reduces the generation and extension of cracks, and prevents the coating from being easily damaged.