Comparative investigation of microstructure and high-temperature oxidation resistance of high-velocity oxy-fuel sprayed CoNiCrAlY/nano-Al_(2)O_(3) composite coatings using satellited powders

Satellited CoNiCrAlY–Al_(2)O_(3)feedstocks with 2wt%, 4wt%, and 6wt% oxide nanoparticles and pure CoNiCrAlY powder were deposited by the high-velocity oxy fuel process on an Inconel738 superalloy substrate. The oxidation test was performed at 1050℃ for 5, 50, 100,150, 200, and 400 h. The microstructure and phase composition of powders and coatings were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, respectively. The bonding strength of the coatings was also evaluated. The results proved that with the increase in the percentage of nanoparticles(from 2wt% to 6wt%), the amount of porosity(from 1vol% to 4.7vol%), unmelted particles, and roughness of the coatings(from 4.8 to 8.8 μm) increased, and the bonding strength decreased from 71 to 48 MPa. The thicknesses of the thermally grown oxide layer of pure and composite coatings(2wt%, 4wt%, and 6wt%) after 400 h oxidation were measured as 6.5, 5.5, 7.6, and 8.1 μm, respectively.The CoNiCrAlY–2wt% Al_(2)O_(3)coating showed the highest oxidation resistance due to the diffusion barrier effect of well-dispersed nanoparticles. The CoNiCrAlY–6wt% Al_(2)O_(3)coating had the lowest oxidation resistance due to its rough surface morphology and porous microstructure.

Thickness measurement approach for plasma sprayed coatings using ultrasonic testing technique

The special ultrasonic testing system has been developed for thickness measurement of plasma sprayed coatings. The ultrasonic immersion method was used to obtain stable coupling condition and avoid other disadvantages of contact method. Spherical acoustic lens were designed to focus ultrasonic beam so as to improve beam directivity and concentrate ultrasonic energy. To increase testing precision and avoid mussy wave signals, moderate pulse width and frequency of the transducer has been selected. The displacement of transducer in X-Y-Z directions was precisely manipulated by step-controlled system to insure the accuracy of focus length and repetition of measurement. Optimized testing conditions (with the transducer of center frequency of 10 MHz and crystal diameter of 8 mm, focus length of 9.5 mm, diameter of focal column of 0. 1 mm and length of focal column of 0.27 mm) were selected to determine the thickness between 285 -414 μm of ZrO2 coatings plasma sprayed on the nickel based superalloy. The frequency interval of the periodic extremums in ultrasonic power spectra decreases with increasing coating thickness. The ultrasonic results accord with those of metallographical method.

Experimental Study on Dynamic Mechanical Properties of Sprayed Concrete-Surrounding Rock Combined Body

To investigate the dynamic response problem of the double medium formed by the adherence of sprayed concrete and surrounding rock in the tunnel,a split Hopkinson pressure bar of 75 mm in diameter was adopted at the ages of 3,7 and 10 d.Experimental results showed that dynamic compressive strength and dynamic increase factors(DIF)of the combined bodies increase with the strain rate.With the growth of strain rate,the critical strain of the combined bodies first increases,then deceases.Furthermore,the combined bodies of 3 d reveal the plastic property and brittle property for 7 d and 10 d when the strain rate is over 80/s.The failure characteristic of the sprayed concrete changes from tearing strain damage to crushing damage as the growth of strain rate,and the failure characteristic of rock presents the tensile failure mode as demonstrated by the scanning electron microscope(SEM).

Effect of Hydration Aging and Water Binder Ratio on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Sprayed Concrete

In order to study the durability of sprayed concrete （shotcrete）, effects of different hydration aging and water-binder ratio （w/b） on the microstructure of cement paste and basic mechanical properties of test specimens were investigated. The phase composition, mass percentage of ettringite and portland in hydration production and microstructure were characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, thermo gravimetry-differential scanning calorimetry （TG-DSC） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, respectively. The experimental results showed that changes in phase composition was more significant than those of water-binder ratio. With hydration aging and water-binder ratio increased, the mass percentage of ettringite and portland was decreased from 4.42%, 1.49% to 3.31%, 1.35%, respectively and the microstructure of paste was significantly compacted. Likewise, the mechanical properties including cubic compressive strength and splitting tensile strength were rised obviously.

Laser Remelting of Plasma Sprayed NiCrAlY and NiCrAlY-Al_2O_3 Coatings

Two types of plasma sprayed coatings (NiCrAlY and NiCrAlY-A12O3) were remelted by a 5 kW cw CO2 laser. With increasing laser power and decreasing traverse speed in the ranges of 200-700 W and 5-30 mm/s respectively, the melted track grew in width and depth. In the optimum range of laser parameters, a homogeneous remelted layer without voids, cavities, unmelted particles and microcracks was formed. On the surface of remelted layers, Al203 and YAIO3 were detected. As a result of isothermal oxidation tests, weight gains of laser remelted coatings were obviously lower than that only plasma sprayed, especially laser remelted NiCrAlY-Al2O3 coatings. The effects of laser remelting and incorporation of A12O3 second phase in N1CrAlY matrix on high temperature oxidation resistance were discussed.

Protection Performance of Plasma Sprayed Al_(2)O_(3)-13 wt%TiO_(2) Coating Sealed with an Organic-inorganic Hybrid Agent

An organic-inorganic hybrid sealing agent was fabricated and used in the plasma sprayed Al_(2)O_(3)-13 wt%TiO_(2)coating,and conventional silicone agent was also used for comparison.Protection performance of the coatings was comprehensively evaluated based on both anti-corrosion and anti-biofouling properties.The results reveal that the sealing treatment is remarkably useful to decrease the porosity of the coating,and the porosity of the coating sealed with the hybrid agent is only 0.035%.Immersion corrosion test and Tafel polarization test reveal that the sealed coating with the hybrid agent exhibits a better corrosion resistance by compared with the coating sealed with silicone agent.The corrosion current density i_(corr) of the hybrid agent sealed coating is only 0.7×10^(-6)A·cm^(-2).Moreover,anti-biofouling tests both in the outdoor analogue hydraulic environment and in the natural marine environment prove that the mentioned novel coating presents a better combination of corrosion resistance and anti-biofouling property by compared with the other coatings,and it could be used as a protection of metal components in the marine environment.

Tekcrete Fast~: Fiber-reinforced, rapid-setting sprayed concrete for rib and surface control

Fiber-reinforced spayed concrete has been used for several years in civil and tunneling operations.Research conducted to reduce cure times and increase compressive and flexural strengths resulted in the development of Tekcrete Fast~, a cementitious product capable of obtaining 41 MPa compressive strength and 8 MPa flexural strength in only 3 h and reaching 7 d strengths of 62 and 11.7 MPa, respectively.A single bag product that uses conventional shotcrete and gunite application systems makes it a natural crossover product for mining applications.The discovery of incredible adhesion properties and high resistance to chloride permeability helps ensure long-term stability and increases the ease of application.Project results from Disaster City~ in Texas and the application for rehabilitating a coal mine belt entry are presented.The case study illustrates the effectiveness of the product in stabilizing a coal mine beltway and adjacent cross-cuts that were subjected to progressive sloughage due to humidity and cyclical loading.

Residual stresses within sprayed coatings

Some important developments of residual stress researches for coating-based systems were studied. The following topics were included the sources of residual stresses in coatings: error analysis of Stoneys equation in the curvature method used for the measurement of coating residual stress, the modeling of residual stress and some analytical models for predicting the residual stresses in coatings. These topics should provide some important insights for the fail-safe design of the coating-based systems.

CORROSION FAILURE ANALYSIS OF FLAME SPRAYED Zn-A115 COATING IN SEA WATER

The morphology,microstructure,chemical composition and electrochemical behavior of the flame sprayed Zn-Al15 coating after corrosion test in sea water have been investigated.The results show that the selective dissolution of the laminar euteetic structure of the Zn-AI15 coating is the fundamental cause for its similarity in electrochemical behavior with Zn coating and kinetic behavior with Al coating.In the beginning period of sea water corrosion,the com- bined action of the laminar eutectic structure of the coating together with the residual stress may induce the stress corrosion cracking of the coating,and result in the crevice corrosion. The coating then will bulge and.fail in local areas due to embrittlement itself,stacking and ex- pansion of corroded products under the residual stress.

Microstructure of Ni-Based Self-Fluxing Alloy Sprayed Coating

The microstructure of a Ni-based self-fluxing alloy coating produced by an oxygen-acetylene flame spraying Ni-16.5Cr-3.3B-4.7Si-4.4Fe-0.8C system alloy powder onto a common steel substrate was investigated by microanalysis methods.The phases in the coating were observed by SEM and determined by XEDS X-Ray energy spectrum and X-Ray diffraction patterns.Meanwhile,some molecular formulas were calculated.

Development of single pendulum impact scratch test for evaluating of thermally sprayed coatings

The adhesion of thermally sprayed coatings is an important subject for engineers applying thermal spray process . The single pendulum impact scratch test is the most popular method in the tribological investigation of modified surfaces of materials. In this paper, the adhesion of thermally sprayed coatings has been investigated using this test method. The key of evaluation for thermally sprayed coatings is the sheer strength of coatings obtained in the test. The results show that the test method is reproducible, reliable and easy to perform, and does not require expensive equipment . The procedure proposed in the test method for evaluating the adhesion of coatings is more reliable and realistic than others.

Laser Surface Annealing of Plasma Sprayed Coatings

Laser surface annealing provides a rapid and efficient means for surface alloying and modification of ceramic materials. In this study, Alumina-13% Titania coatings were sprayed with a water-stabilized plasma spray gun. The coated surface was treated by Excimer laser having a wavelength of 248 nm and pulse duration of 24 ns. The surface structure of the treated coating was examined by field emission scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction (XRD). A detailed analysis of the effects of various laser parameters including laser energy density (fluence), pulse repetition rate (PRR), and number of pulses on the morphology and the microstructure of the coatings are presented.

The Study of the Grit-blasting Parameters and Their Effects on the Adhesive Strength of the Plasma Sprayed Coatings

Surface Preparation is very important in adhesive b on ding of spray coatings to the surface of a work piece. The common practice is gr it-blasting of the surface before subjecting it to the spray coating process. In this study, grit-blasting of an AISI 4130 steel (of different heat treatmen ts) with Al 2O 3 particles was studied. Various grit-blasting parameters such as blasting particle size, the distance between blasting nozzle and the work pi ece (25, 30 and 40 cm.), blasting pressure (3,4,5,6 and 7 bars), blasting time ( 3, 6 and 10 seconds), and the blasting angle (45° and 90°) were examined in or der to find the optimum roughness. The mean roughness (Ra) of the grit-blasted surfaces were measured and the vari ations of the roughness with respect to the above mentioned variables were studi ed. The results show that by increasing blasting time, surface roughness increas es up to a maximum and then slightly decreases it with further duration of t he process. On the other hand a lengthy blasting causes some undesirable results such as an increase in residual particles between surface irregularities. There fore an optimum blasting time is of great importance. Increasing the blasting pr essure also provides a rougher surface, but in grit blasting of harder specimens the surface roughness decreases when the pressure reaches a certain limit. About the blasting angle, it was noticed that an angle of 45° results in less r esidual particles between the surface irregularities, in comparison to the angle of 90°. After grit-blasting, the specimens were plasma spray coated with 80% ZrO 2-20 % Y 2O 3 powder. The adhesive strength of the coating to the substrate was the n measured according to the DIN 50160 standard. The results show that for a certain base metal, the adhesive strength is directl y related to the surface roughness of the base material. Residual particles afte r grit-blasting the surface of the specimens can also have a strong deteriorati ng effect on adhesive strength. Finally, it was shown that the hardness of the b ase material had a direct effect on the adhesive strength of the sprayed coating s.

Electrochemical corrosion behavior of arc sprayed Zn-Al coatings

Cored wires and high velocity arc spraying (HVAS) technique were applied to produce high Al content Zn-Al alloy coatings on low carbon steel substrates. The electrochemical corrosion behaviors of Zn, Al and Zn-Al coatings were studied with potentiodynamic measurement in 5 % NaCl solution. Compared with pure Zn, pure Al and Zn-15Al coatings, Zn-26Al coatings show a higher corrosion resistance in salt solution. The potentiodynamic polarization tests show that the corrosion resistance of Zn-Al coatings increases as Al content is raised. Pure Al coating exhibits different electrochemical behaviors with other coatings. The corrosion initiated at the micro-pores of the coating and the underlying corrosion mechanism is very similar to that of the pitting corrosion.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of twin-wire arc sprayed Ni-Al composite coatings on 6061-T6 aluminum alloy sheet

We have systematically studied the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ni-5wt%Al and Ni-20wt%Al composite coat- ings fabricated on 6061-T6 aluminum alloy sheet by twin-wire arc spraying under different experimental conditions. The abrasive wear be- havior and interface diffusion behavior of the composite coatings were evaluated by dry/wet rubber wheel abrasive wear tests and heat treat- ment, respectively. Experimental results indicate that the composite coatings exhibit features of adhesive wear. Besides, the Vickers micro- hardness of NiA1 and Ni3AI intermetallic compounds is relatively larger than that of the substrate, which is beneficial for enhancing the wear resistance. With the increase of annealing temperature and time, the interface diffusion area between the Ni-Al coating and the substrate gradually expands with the formation of NiAl3 and Ni2Al3 phases, and is controlled by diffusion of aluminum atoms. The grain growth ex- ponent n of diffusion kinetics of the Ni-Al coating, calculated via a high-temperature diffusion model at 400, 480, and 550℃, is between 0.28 and 0.38. This satisfies the cubic law, which is consistent with the general theoretical relationship of high-temperature diffusion.

Study on microstructure and properties of high velocity arc sprayed Fe_3Al intermetallic coating

Coating structural materials with Fe 3Al based intermetallics may rapidly lead to industrial application of their environment and wear resistant features. In the present study, high velocity arc spraying (HVAS) was used to in situ synthesize Fe 3Al intermetallic coating. The microstructural characterization and properties of the coating have been investigated. The microstructure was found to consist of Fe 3Al based intermetallic (D0 3 and B2) and α Fe regions together with fine oxide (α Al 2O 3) layers. TEM images of coating show that the solidified lamellae are polycrystalline and have a grain size of the order of about 150 nm , and there also exists amorphous state in some areas. It can be concluded that a very high cooling rate has been obtained during HVAS process. Moreover, the coating has relatively higher adhesion strength and microhardness, as well as lower density and porosity.

Effect of Laser Remelting on the Microstructure and Corrosion Resistance of Plasma Sprayed Fe-based Coating

Fe-based amorphous and nanocrystalline coatings were fabricated by air plasma spraying. The coatings were further treated by laser remelting process to improve their microstructure and properties. The corrosion resistance of the as-sprayed and laser-remelted coatings in 3.5wt% NaC1 and 1 mol/L HCI solutions was evaluated by electrochemical polarization analysis. It was found that laser-remelted coating appeared much denser than the as-sprayed coating. However, laser-remelted coating contains much more nanocrystalline grains than the as-sprayed coatings, resulting from the lower cooling rate in laser remelting process compared with plasma spraying process. Electrochemical polarization results indicated that the laser-remelted coating has great corrosion resistance than the as-sprayed coating because of its dense structure.

Abrasive wear behavior of cast iron coatings plasma-sprayed at different mild steel substrate temperatures

Three kinds of cast iron coatings were prepared by atmospheric plasma spraying. During the spraying, the mild steel substrate temperature was controlled to be averagely 50, 180, and 240℃, respectively. Abrasive wear tests were conducted on the coatings under a dry friction condition. It is ibund that the abrasive wear resistance is enhanced with the substrate temperature increasing. SEM observations show that the wear losses of the coatings during the wear tests mainly result from the spalling of the splats. Furthermore, the improved wear resis- tance of the coatings mainly owes to the formation of oxides and the enhancement in the mechanical properties with the substrate temperature increasing.

Establishing empirical relationships to predict porosity level and corrosion rate of atmospheric plasma-sprayed alumina coatings on AZ31B magnesium alloy

Plasma sprayed ceramic coatings are successfully used in many industrial applications,where high wear and corrosion resistance with thermal insulation are required.In this work,empirical relationships were developed to predict the porosity and corrosion rate of alumina coatings by incorporating independently controllable atmospheric plasma spray operational parameters(input power,stand-off distance and powder feed rate)using response surface methodology(RSM).A central composite rotatable design with three factors and five levels was chosen to minimize the number of experimental conditions.Within the scope of the design space,the input power and the stand-off distance appeared to be the most significant two parameters affecting the responses among the three investigated process parameters.A linear regression relationship was also established between porosity and corrosion rate of the alumina coatings.Further,sensitivity analysis was carried out and compared with the relative impact of three process parameters on porosity level and corrosion rate to verify the measurement errors on the values of the uncertainty in estimated parameters.