An Investigation of Wear-Resistant Coatings on an A390 Die-Cast Aluminum Substrate An Investigation of Wear-Resistant Coatings on an A390 Die-Cast Aluminum Substrate

by Mower, D Adam

In this investigation, four coatings were tested for their ability to increase the wear life of A390 aluminum primary clutch sheaves used in continuously variable transmission (CVT). The coatings tested were: hard chrome, electroless nickel metal, hard coat anodizing and composite ceramic coating. The primary clutch sheave material is a die-cast A390 aluminum.

A wear test stand was developed to duplicate wear found on CVTs currently in use. The wear was evaluated using four methods. First, the change in shift characteristics of the CVT while running on the wear test stand, second a change in performance using an ATV and chassis dynamometer, third the amount of material lost, through wear, was measured using a profilometer, and finally a scanning electron microscope which was used to identify the dominate mechanism of wear in the sheave material.

All of the tests showed the hard chrome coating to have the lowest wear rates and the best wear characteristics. The electroless nickel metal coating did improve the wear life of the CVT but had very high variation. The hard coat anodized and ceramic composite coatings were eliminated early in testing because of poor performance.