Properties and Corrosion Behavior of Chromium and Vanadium Carbide Composite Coatings Produced on Ductile Cast Iron by Thermoreactive Diffusion Technique

Ductile iron (DI) owes many of its attractive mechanical properties to the graphite nodules in its structure. However, since galvanic coupling can occur between the graphite nodules and the matrix in aggressive environments, these nodules can, at the same time, reduce its corrosion resistance. In this study, composite carbide coatings were grown on the surface of GGG-80 using the thermoreactive diffusion (TRD) process. The process was carried out at 900, 1000, and 1100 °C for 1 h using nanosized Fe-V and Fe-Cr powders. The coatings were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), two-dimensional profilometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and microhardness tests. The corrosion behavior of the coatings were evaluated in three different solutions (3.5 wt% NaCl, 5 wt% H₂SO₄, and 5 wt% HNO₃) using electrochemical open-circuit potential (OCP) and potentiodynamic polarization measurements. Microstructures and hardness tests showed that the nodular graphite in the surface was dissolved at the TRD process temperatures and that a coating of 12–36 µm thickness and 2461–3200 HV_0.05 hardness was obtained. The corrosion resistance of the composite coating was up to 10, 33.5, and 75 times higher than the uncoated GGG-80 in NaCl, H₂SO₄, and HNO₃, respectively. The improvement in corrosion resistance was a direct result of the formation of complex carbides and the elimination of graphite nodules in the surface of the alloy.