Enhancement of friction and wear performance of low temperature steel by plasma transfer arc welding (PTAW) technology to provide a test basis for welding and life extension technology for polar special ship plates. Three sets of Co-based coatings with spherical tungsten carbide content were prepared by overlay welding on the surface of low-temperature steel E32 using plasma transfer arc technology, and the frictional and wear performance of this modified coating and E32 steel at low temperature conditions (–20 ℃) was compared. By means of X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy disperse spectroscopy (EDS) and 3D optical profilometer, the influence law of tungsten carbide content on the wear resistance and microstructure of the overlay layer was analyzed, and the wear resistance mechanism was revealed. After 2 h dry sliding friction wear with a load of 50 N and a sliding speed of 20 mm/s, the friction coefficient and volume wear rate of the three sets of coatings decreased compared to the low temperature steel E32, and the width and depth of the wear marks became smaller. Coatings rich in WC, W2C reinforced phases and carbide hard phases such as Cr23C6, Cr7C3, Co6W6C and Fe6W6C significantly improve the hardness and low temperature wear resistance of E32 steel. The low temperature wear resistance of the coating increases with the increase of tungsten carbide content. Adhesive wear and abrasive wear were predominant wear mechanism of the coating when the coating without adding tungsten carbide. When the content of tungsten carbide was 30% and 60%, three-body abrasion was the main wear mechanism. Through PTAW on the surface of E32 steel, the spherical tungsten carbide reinforced Co-based modified coatings with dense structure, high hardness and excellent low-temperature wear resistance were obtained, which can improve the service life of low-temperature steel to some extent.