| abstract |
A method of coating a vehicle wheel (10) to increase wear and corrosion resistance of the vehicle wheel (10), includes the steps of providing a vehicle wheel (10) and applying a wear and corrosion resistant coating (14) onto a surface of the vehicle wheel (10). The coating (14) is applied to at least a tire bead retaining flange (16, 24) of the vehicle wheel (10). The coating (14) is of particular use with vehicle wheels (10) made of forged aluminum. The coating (14) is selected from tungsten carbide, optionally including cobalt or chrome, a nickel-based superalloy, aluminum and silicon carbide, or stainless steel. The coating (14) is typically applied to a thickness of about 0.004 - 0.01 inch. The surface of the vehicle wheel (10) may be prepared by mechanically abrading the surface or chemically etching the surface of the vehicle wheel (10). The coating (14) may be applied by cold spraying, thermal spraying, or triboelectric discharge kinetic spraying and other similar processes. |