<b>High-Throughput Calculations and Experiments for Cobalt-Free Wear Coatings</b>

<p dir="ltr">Ceramic-metal composites (or cermets) are a class of materials that are used in the industry for applications like wear coatings deposited by thermal spraying methods (HVOF, APS, D-Gun) in association with industrial equipment owing to their attractive mechanical properties. In particular, the cermet tungsten carbide/cobalt (WC/Co) is widely utilized due to its exceptional wear resistance used in aerospace and equipment-manufacturing industries. However, health, economic, and social concerns related to cobalt, including its potential carcinogenicity and price volatility, have spurred a significant search for cobalt-free alternatives in the industry.</p><p dir="ltr">To address these concerns and to explore potential alternatives, this work utilizes high-throughput methodologies to identify high-performance, Co-free cermets. The research aims to develop a high-throughput calculation methodology to efficiently and objectively down-select from a large set of ceramic and ferrous metal combinations, considering alternative binders such as Fe, Mn, and Cu. These combinations were investigated, and calculations were conducted to refine the initial dataset of ~4 million compositions down to a small set of exceptional performers. The composition data was used to filter, categorize, and rank top performers with MOORA2, a modified multi-criteria decision making (MCDA) method.</p><p dir="ltr">Alloys with exceptional computed properties were selected for fabrication via liquid phase sintering (LPS) or melt infiltration (MI). Some of the optimized set of compositions were fabricated and tested in a high-throughput manner through various experimental techniques to evaluate properties including hardness, toughness, and density. Hardness and toughness measurements were conducted using microhardness indentations and relative density values were obtained using a combination of Archimedes, geometric, and image analyses. A comparison was made between experimental and calculated values of hardness and density, which had agreements within 31.4% for hardness and 8.6% for density values.</p><p><br></p>