The purpose of this study is to improve the mechanical properties and develop manufacturing technology through self-soluble alloy powder flame spray coating on the surface of a run-out table roller for hot rolling. The roller surface of the run-out table should maintain high hardness at high temperatures and possess high wear, corrosion, and heat resistances. In addition, sufficient bonding strength between the thermal spray coating layer and base material, which would prevent the peel-off of the coating layer, is also an important factor. In this study, the most suitable powder and process for roll manufacturing technology are determined through the initial selection of commercial alloy powder for roll manufacturing, hardness, component analysis, and bond strength analysis of the powder and thermal spray coating layer according to the powder.

WC-CrC-Ni coatings were prepared by nine processes of the Taguchi program with three levels for the four spray parameters: spray distance, flow rates of hydrogen and oxygen, and powder feed rate. The optimal coating process (OCP) was oxygen flow rate of 38 FMR, hydrogen flow rate of 53 FMR, powder feed rate of 25 g/min, and spray distance of 7 inches. Hardness of 1150 Hv and porosity of 1.2 %, were obtained by OCP; these are better results compared with the highest 1033 Hv and the lowest 1.5% porosity obtained by nine processes of the Taguchi program. Friction coefficient of the WC-CrC-Ni coating decreased from 0.36 ± 0.07 at 25 oC to 0.23 ± 0.07 at 450 oC. These values were smaller than those of the EHC (electrolytic hard chrome) plating at both temperatures due to lubrication from the oxide debris. The wear trace and wear depth of the coating are smaller than those of the EHC at both temperatures. Pitting was not found in the WC-CrC-Ni coating sample, while it did appear in the EHC sample.