Preparation of Laser Cladding Coating Undercooling Cu-based Alloy and Co on Non-equilibrium Solidification Structure

The effect of the gradient content of Co element on the solidification process of Cu-based alloy under deep under cooling conditions was explored.The non-equilibrium solidification structure of the under cooled alloy samples were analyzed.It is found that the rapidly solidified alloy has undergone twice grain refinement during the undercooling process.Characterization and significance of the maximum undercooling refinement structure of Cu60Ni35Co5 at T=253 K were analyzed.High-density defects were observed,such as dislocations,stacking faults networks,and twinning structures.The standard FCC diffraction pattern represents that it is still a single-phase structure.Based on the metallographic diagram,EBSD and TEM data analysis,it is illustrated that the occurrence of grain refinement under high undercooling is due to stress induced recrystallization.In addition,the laser cladding technology is used to coat Co-based alloy(Stellite12) coating on 304 stainless steel substrate;the microstructure of the coating cross-section was analyzed.It was found that the microstructure of the cross-section is presented as columnar crystals,planar crystals,and disordered growth direction,so that the coating has better hardness and wear resistance.By electrochemical corrosion of the substrate and coating,it can be seen that the Co and Cr elements present in the coating are more likely to form a dense passivation film,which improved the corrosion resistance of the coating.

Microstructure and Properties of AlCoCrFeNiTi High-Entropy Alloy Coatings Prepared by Laser Cladding

21-4N(5Cr21Mn9Ni4N)is extensively employed in the production of engine valves,operating under severe conditions.Apart from withstanding high-temperature gas corrosion,it must also endure the impact of cylinder explosion pressure.The predominant failure mode of 21-4N valves is abrasive wear.Surface coatings serve as an effective approach to prevent such failures.In this investigation,Laser cladding technology was utilized to fabricate AlCoCrFeNiTi high entropy alloy coatings onto the surfaces of 21-4N valves.According to the findings,the cladding zone has a normal dendritic microstructure,a good substrate-to-cladding layer interaction,and no obvious flaws.In terms of hardness,the cladding demonstrates an average hardness of 620 HV.The hardness has increased by 140%compared to the substrate.The average hardness of the cladding remains at approximately 520 HV even at elevated temperatures.Regarding frictional wear performance,between 400℃and 800℃,the cladding layer exhibits an average friction coefficient of 0.4,with the primary wear mechanisms being abrasive wear,adhesive wear,and a minor degree of plastic deformation.

Evaluation of Textured Concrete as an Alternative for Stone as a Cladding Material

Along with the increasing demand on exterior wall cladding as a protective cover for the interior elements and an indicator for modernity and architectural innovation,comes the need to develop new cladding materials that can replace the old ones and overcome their setbacks.This paper discusses the possibility of replacing stone by textured concrete as a cladding material in order to overcome the main challenges faced stone cladding by comparing them together.The comparison was made based on the main requirements of the cladding materials namely:economic,environmental,social,functional and structural aspects.

A cladding-pumping based power-scaled noise-like and dissipative soliton pulse fiber laser

We report a high-average-power noise-like pulse(NLP) and dissipative soliton(DS) pulse fiber laser. Average power as high as 4.8 W could be obtained at the fundamental mode-locked repetition rate. The NLP can also be transformed into a more powerful DS mode-locking state by optimizing the polarization and losses of intra-cavity pulses in the nonlinear polarization evolution regime. The operation mode between the NLP and DS can be switched, and the laser output performance in both modes has been studied. The main advantage of this work is switchable high-power operation between the NLP and DS. In comparison with conventional single-mode NLP fiber lasers, the multi-function high-power optical source will greatly push its application in supercontinuum generation, coherence tomography, and industrial processing.

Fretting Wear Characteristics of Nuclear Fuel Cladding in High-Temperature Pressurized Water

In pressurized water reactor(PWR),fretting wear is one of the main causes of fuel assembly failure.Moreover,the operation condition of cladding is complex and harsh.A unique fretting damage test equipment was developed and tested to simulate the fretting damage evolution process of cladding in the PWR environment.It can simulate the fretting wear experiment of PWR under different temperatures(maximum temperature is 350℃),displacement amplitude,vibration frequency,and normal force.The fretting wear behavior of Zr-4 alloy under different temperature environments was tested.In addition,the evolution of wear scar morphology,profile,and wear volume was studied using an optical microscope(OM),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),and a 3D white light interferometer.Results show that higher water temperature evidently decreased the cladding wear volume,the wear mechanism of Zr-4 cladding changed from abrasive wear to adhesive wear and the formation of an oxide layer on the wear scar reduced the wear volume and maximum wear depth.

Effects of process parameters and annealing on microstructure and properties of CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy coating prepared by plasma cladding

Plasma cladding was used to prepare a CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy(HEA)coating under different conditions.The process parameters were optimized using an orthogonal experiment design based on surface morphology quality characteristics,dilution rate,and hardness.The optimal process parameters were determined through range and variance analysis to be a cladding current of 70 A,a cladding speed of 7 cm·min^(-1),and a powder gas flow rate of 8 L·s^(-1).During the optimized experiments,both the cladded and annealed CoCrFeMnNi HEA coatings exhibit some pores,micro-voids,and a small amount of aggregation.However,the aggregation in the annealed coating is more dispersed than that in the cladded coating.The cladded CoCrFeMnNi HEA coating consists of simple FCC phases,while a new Cr-rich phase precipitates from the FCC matrix after annealing the coating at a temperature range of 550°C-950°C.After annealing at 850°C,the proportion of the FCC phase decreases compared to the cladded coating,and the number of large-angle grain boundaries is significantly reduced.However,the proportion of grains with sizes below 50μm increases from 61.7%to 74.3%.The micro-hardness and wear resistance of the cladded coating initially increases but then decreases with an increase in annealing temperature,indicating that appropriate annealing can significantly improve the mechanical properties of the CoCrFeMnNi HEA coatings by plasma cladding.The micro-hardness of the CoCrFeMnNi HEA coatings after annealing at 650°C increases to 274.82 HV_(0.2),while the friction coefficient decreases to below 0.595.

Numerical simulation of a truncated cladding negative curvature fiber sensor based on the surface plasmon resonance effect

A refractive index(RI)sensor based on the surface plasmon resonance effect is proposed using a truncated cladding negative curvature fiber(TC-NCF).The influences of the TC-NCF structure parameters on the sensing performances are investigated and compared with the traditional NCF.The simulation results show that the proposed TC-NCF RI sensor has an ultra-wide detection range from 1.16 to 1.43.The maximum wavelength sensitivity reaches 12400 nm/RIU,and the corresponding R^(2)of the polynomial fitting equation is 0.9999.The maximum and minimum resolutions are 2.56×10^(-5)and 8.06×10^(-6),respectively.In addition,the maximum amplitude sensitivity can reach-379.1 RIU^(-1)when the RI is chosen as 1.43.The proposed TC-NCF RI sensor could be useful in biochemical medicine,environmental monitoring,and food safety.

Fiber cladding dual channel surface plasmon resonance sensor based on S-type fiber

Fiber cladding surface plasmon resonance(SPR)sensors have few structures,and a clad SPR sensor based on S-type fiber is proposed in this paper.This new type of fiber cladding SPR sensor was formed by electrofusing an S-shaped structure on the fiber to couple the light in the fiber core to the cladding.In this paper,the effects of fiber parameters on the performance of the sensor were studied by simulation and experiment.Based on the conclusion that the smaller the core diameter is,the closer the working band of the SPR resonance is to long wavelengths,and that the geometric characteristics mean that a multimode fiber can receive the fiber cladding light from a small core diameter few-mode fiber,a dual channel SPR sensor with a double S-type fiber cascade was proposed.In the refractive index detection range of 1.333–1.385refractive index units(RIU),the resonant working band of channel I is 627.66 nm–759.78 nm,with an average sensitivity of 2540.77 nm/RIU,and the resonant working band of channel II is 518.24 nm–658.2 nm,with an average sensitivity of2691.54 nm/RIU.The processing method for the S-type fiber cladding SPR sensor is simple,effectively solving the problem of this type of SPR sensor structure and the difficult realization of a dual channel.The sensor is expected to be used in the fields of medical treatment and biological analysis.

Transient fuel performance analysis of UO_(2)–BeO fuel with composite SiC coated with Cr cladding based on multiphysics method

The transient multiphysics models were updated in CAMPUS to evaluate the accident-tolerant fuel performance under accident conditions.CAMPUS is a fuel performance code developed based on COMSOL.The simulated results of the UO_(2)–Zircaloy fuel performance under accident conditions were compared with those of the FRAPTRAN code and the experimental data to verify the correctness of the updated CAMPUS.Subsequently,multiphysics models of the UO_(2)–BeO fuel and composite SiC coated with Cr(SiC_(f)/SiC-Cr)cladding were implemented in CAMPUS.Finally,the fuel performance of the three types of fuel cladding systems under Loss of Coolant Accident(LOCA)and Reactivity Insertion Accident(RIA)conditions was evaluated and compared,including the temperature distribution,stress distribution,pressure evolution,and cladding failure time.The results showed that the fuel temperature of the UO_(2) fuel under accident conditions without pre-irradiation was lower after being combined with SiC_(f)/SiC-Cr cladding.Moreover,the centerline and outer surface temperatures of the UO_(2)–BeO fuel combined with SiC_(f)/SiC-Cr cladding reduced further under accident conditions.The cladding temperature increased after the combination with the SiC_(f)/SiC-Cr cladding under accident conditions with pre-irradiation.In addition,the use of SiC_(f)/SiC-Cr cladding significantly reduced the cladding hoop strain and plenum pressure.

A novel multi-channel porous structure facilitating mass transport towards highly efficient alkaline water electrolysis

An advantageous porous architecture of electrodes is pivotal in significantly enhancing alkaline water electrolysis(AWE)efficiency by optimizing the mass transport mechanisms.This effect becomes even more pronounced when aiming to achieve elevated current densities.Herein,we employed a rapid and scalable laser texturing process to craft novel multi-channel porous electrodes.Particularly,the obtained electrodes exhibit the lowest Tafel slope of 79 mV dec^(-1)(HER)and 49 mV dec^(-1)(OER).As anticipated,the alkaline electrolyzer(AEL)cell incorporating multi-channel porous electrodes(NP-LT30)exhibited a remarkable improvement in cell efficiency,with voltage drops(from 2.28 to 1.97 V)exceeding 300 mV under 1 A cm^(-1),compared to conventional perforated Ni plate electrodes.This enhancement mainly stemmed from the employed multi-channel porous structure,facilitating mass transport and bubble dynamics through an innovative convection mode,surpassing the traditional convection mode.Furthermore,the NP-LT30-based AEL cell demonstrated exceptional durability for 300 h under 1.0 A cm^(-2).This study underscores the capability of the novel multi-channel porous electrodes to expedite mass transport in practical AWE applications.

Design of Cold-Junction Compensation and Disconnection Detection Circuits of Various Thermocouples and Implementation of Multi-Channel Interfaces Using Them-A Secondary Publication

Cold-junction compensation(CJC)and disconnection detection circuit design of various thermocouples(TC)and multi-channel TC interface circuits were designed.The CJC and disconnection detection circuit consists of a CJC semiconductor device,an instrumentation amplifier(IA),two resistors,and a diode for disconnection detection.Based on the basic circuit,a multi-channel interface circuit was also implemented.The CJC was implemented using compensation semiconductor and IA,and disconnection detection was detected by using two resistors and a diode so that IA input voltage became-0.42 V.As a result of the experiment using R-type TC,the error of the designed circuit was reduced from 0.14 mV to 3μV after CJC in the temperature range of 0°C to 1400°C.In addition,it was confirmed that the output voltage of IA was saturated from 88 mV to-14.2 V when TC was disconnected from normal.The output voltage of the designed circuit was 0 V to 10 V in the temperature range of 0°C to 1400°C.The results of the 4-channel interface experiment using R-type TC were almost identical to the CJC and disconnection detection results for each channel.The implemented multi-channel interface has a feature that can be applied equally to E,J,K,T,R,and S-type TCs by changing the terminals of CJC semiconductor devices and adjusting the IA gain.

Surface hardening of Fe-based alloy powders by Nd:YAG laser cladding followed by electrospark deposition with WC-Co cemented carbide

This paper presents the results of a study concerned with the surface hardening of Fe-based alloys and WC-8Co cemented carbide by inte- grating laser cladding and the electrospark deposition processes. Specimens of low carbon steel were processed firstly by laser cladding with Fe-based alloy powders and then by electrospark deposition with WC-SCo cemented carbide. It is shown that, for these two treatments, the electrospark coating possesses finer microstructure than the laser coating, and the thickness and surface hardness of the electrospark coating can be substantially increased.

Microstructural evolution of titanium matrix composite coatings reinforced by in situ synthesized TiB and TiC by laser cladding

Titanium-based composite coatings reinforced by in situ synthesized TiB and TiC particles were successfully fabricated on Ti6Al4V by laser cladding using Ti-B_4C-Al or Ti-B_4C-C-Al powders as the precursor materials.The microstructural and metallographic analyses were made by X-ray diffraction（XRD）,optical microscope（OM）,scanning electron microscopy（SEM）,and electron probe microanalysis （EPMA）.The results show that the coatings are mainly composed ofα-Ti cellular dendrites and a eutectic transformation product in which a large number of coarse and fine needle-shaped TiB and a few equiaxial TiC particles are homogeneously embedded.A thin dilution zone with a thickness of about 100μm is present at the interface,and it consists of a few TiB and TiC reinforcements and a large number of lamella grains growing parallel to the heat flux direction in which a thin needle-shaped microstructure exists due to the martensitic transformation. The microstructural evolution can be divided into four stages：precipitation and growth of primaryβ-Ti phase,formation of the binary eutecticumβ-Ti＋TiB,formation of the ternary eutecticumβ-Ti＋TiB＋TiC,and solid transformation fromβ-Ti toα-Ti.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Ni-based composite coatings reinforced by in situ synthesized TiB_2 + TiC by laser cladding

A Ni-based composite coating reinforced by in situ synthesized TiB2 and TiC particles was fabricated on Ti6A14V by laser cladding. An attempt was made to correlate the thermodynamic predictions and experimental observation. The micro- structure and the microhardness profile across the coating were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, energy dispersive spectroscopy （EDS）, and a hardness tester. It is found that the coating mainly consists of a large number of reinforcements （black blocky TiB2, flower-like or equiaxial TiC, and fine acicular CrB） and the 7 matrix. The hardness of TiB2, TiC, and CrB reinforcements is much higher than that of the 7 matrix. The dispersive distribu- tion of such high hardness reinforcements causes the increase in hardness of the whole coating. The average value of the hard- ness is approximately Hv0.2 700 in the coating. The hardness of the coating is obviously higher than that of the substrate due to the dispersion strengthening of reinforcements.

Laser cladding in-situ carbide particle reinforced Fe-based composite coatings with rare earth oxide addition

Particulate reinforced metal matrix composite(PR-MMC) has excellent properties such as good wear resistance,corrosion resistance and high temperature properties.Laser cladding is usually used to form PR-MMC on metal surface with various volume fractions of ceramic particles.Recent literatures showed that laser melting of powder mixture containing carbon and carbide-forming elements,was favorable for the formation of in-situ synthesized carbide particles.In this paper,rare earth oxide(RE2O3) was added into t...

Microstructural characterization of titanium matrix composite coatings reinforced by in situ synthesized TiB + TiC fabricated on Ti6Al4V by laser cladding

Titanium-based composite coatings reinforced by in situ synthesized TiB and TiC particles between titanium and B4C were successfully fabricated on Ti6Al4V by laser cladding. Phase constituents of the coatings were predicted by thermodynamic calculations in the Ti-BnC-Al and Ti-B-C-Al systems, respectively, and were validated well by X-ray diffraction （XRD） analysis results. Microstructural and metallographic analyses were made by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and electron probe micro-analysis （EPMA）. The results show that the coatings are mainly composed of α-Ti cellular dendrites and the eutecticum in which a large number of needle-shaped TiB and a few equiaxial TiC particles are embedded. C is enriched in α-Ti cellular dendrites and far exceeds the theoretical maximum dissolubility, owing to the extension of saturation during laser cladding. The coatings have a good metallurgical bond with the substrate due to the existence of the dilution zone, in which a great amount of lamella β-Ti grains consisting of a thin needle-shaped martensitic microstructure are present and grow parallel to the heat flux direction; a few TiB and TiC reinforcements are observed at the boundaries of initial β-Ti grains.

Effect of scanning speeds on electrochemical corrosion resistance of laser cladding TC4 alloy

In order to study the effect of scanning speed on the electrochemical corrosion resistance of laser cladding TC4 alloy in artificial seawater, the x-ray diffraction analysis, microstructure of cross-section, microhardness variation, and impedance spectrum have been studied in comparison with the TC4 titanium alloy. The results show that the main phase of cladding coating is α-Ti, and the change of scanning speed has no obvious effect on it; therefore, the supersaturated α-Ti solid solution is formed, and the acicular α martensite is obtained. As the scanning speed increases, the microstructure of cladding coating is orthogonal basket-weave, the crystal surface spacing decreases, and the average microhardness of laser cladding TC4 alloy slightly increases. When the scanning speed increases to 10 mm/s, the microhardness is about 14.71%higher than that of the substrate, and the electrochemical corrosion resistance of laser cladding TC4 alloy is also improved,which is about 2.48 times more than the substrate. Grain refinement has a great effect on enhancing the anti-electrochemical corrosion.

Effect of process parameters on microstructural and mechanical properties of Ti.SS 304L explosive cladding

The present work pertains to the study of microstructure and mechanical properties of explosively cladded commercially pure titanium(cpTi) with austenitic stainless steel(SS 304L) subjected to varied process parameters, viz., loading ratios(mass of explosive or mass of flyer plate) and preset angles. The microstructural study reveals the transformation from straight to wavy interface while increasing loading ratios. Vickers hardness increases with loading ratios, and the maximum hardness is witnessed in the closer proximity of collision interface. Ram tensile and shear strength of explosive claddings are higher than that of parent plates. While the base plate fails in impact test, the flyer plate is deformed, indicating good impact strength. Increased mass of claddings, due to oxide formation, is witnessed in corrosion tests, which confirms the superiority of explosive claddings in corrosive environment. Triaxial weldability window, an analytical estimation for Ti-SS 304L explosive claddings, is developed and correlated.

Microstructure and formation mechanism of titanium matrix composites coating on Ti-6Al-4V by laser cladding

Laser cladding experiments were done on a 5-kW continuous wave CO2 laser to synthesize TiC and TiB rein- fowed titanium matrix composite coatings on Ti-6AI-4V alloy with a mixture of Ti and B4C precursor powder. The ther- modynamics of the reactions were calculated and analyzed. The microstructure and phase evolution of TiB and TiC com- posites were investigated. The results showed that the chemical reaction between Ti and B4C would release much heat, and these compounds, TiC, TiB, and small amount of TiB2, can be formed on the surface of Ti-6AI-4V alloy if the supplied en- ergy is sufficient to excite the reaction among the initial products. A good metallurgical bond between the coating and the substrate can be achieved. The microhardness of coating was irregular and the maximum value was approximately HV600.

A COMPREHENSIVE MODEL OF LASER CLADDING BY POWDER FEEDING

A novel model was presented to predict the evolutionary development of cladding layer, and a method based on Lambert-Beer theorem and Mie's theory was adopted to treat the interaction between powder stream and laser beam. By using the continuum model and enthalpy-porosity method, the fluid flow and heat transfer in solid-liquid phase change system were simulated. The commercial software PHOENICS, to which several modules were appended, was used to accomplish the simulation. Numerical computation was performed for Stellite 6 cladding on steel, the obtained results are coincident with those measured in experiment basically.