The product quality of selective laser melting (SLM) is closely related to the alloy powder characteristics, including the size distribution and the oxygen content. In this work, the 316L stainless steel powder was prepared by a vacuum atomization furnace and sieved into a normal-sized distribution range from 15 to 53 μm with a median diameter of 37.4 μm, and a fine-sized distribution range from 10 to 38 μm with a median diameter of 18.9 μm. Then they were mixed with each other in different proportions. The results show that, under the condition of the same SLM parameters, the SLM part, with adding a large amount of fine-sized powder, has a lower density and strength, as well as more holes and spheroidized particles, compared with the SLM part with adding a small amount of finer-sized powder. Furthermore, the 316L stainless steel powder with a high oxygen content was prepared by a non-vacuum atomization furnace. Although the 316L stainless steel powder with a high oxygen content can be evenly spread in the SLM process, the surface layer of the powder is easy to form an oxide film during the cooling and solidification of powder inside the molten pool. Under the action of thermal stress, the small crack forms and expands along the oxide film, eventually leading to large cracks inside the melt channel.

Manufacturing of steel components is often done at high temperatures (HT) posing a serious challenge to components such as forming tools. Thermal spray coatings provide a cost-effective solution for surface protection under HT, corrosive environments and severe wear conditions. Thermally sprayed coatings based on cubic hard materials such as TiC and TiCN can provide an alternative to widely used Cr3C2-NiCr. While the latter possess a superb oxidation resistance and wear resistance at HT, they are prone to degradation in the presence of Mn, an element commonly alloyed in many modern steel grades such as TWIP (twinning-induced plasticity steel). In this study, a (Ti,Mo)(C,N)-29% Ni hardmetal feedstock powder was prepared by agglomeration and sintering. Coatings were deposited using a high velocity air-fuel (HVAF) spray process. The coating was benchmarked against a standard Cr3C2-NiCr coating obtained with the same spray process. Our work comprises analyses of the feedstock powder along with the resulting coating microstructure after deposition and heat treatment. Further, the HT sliding behavior against TWIP steel using a HT pin-on-disc tribometer at 700°C was investigated. The results showed a clear benefit of the TiCN-based coating, with almost no wear detected, while the Cr3C2-coating showed a significant wear loss. Based on these results, the TiCN-based coating is regarded as potential solution for prospective forming applications of modern high Mn steels, such as TWIP.

Internal diameter (ID) coating by means of thermal spraying for the wear and corrosion protection of components is currently experiencing growing interest in science and industry. While high-kinetic spray processes (such as HVOF, HVAF or warm spraying) in combination with cermet materials (e.g. WC-Co or Cr3C2-NiCr) are well established for this purpose in traditional coating of external OD (outer diameter) surfaces, they have hardly been used in the ID (internal diameter) area so far. Even though a few special ID spray guns with compact design and low combustion energy are by now available on the market, only little is known about the effects and interactions of the spray parameters on the particle behavior and the coating properties. Due to the mentioned gun specifications and the usually required short spray distances for ID coating, fine spray powders < 15 μm must be used to ensure sufficient melting and acceleration of the particles. In this study warm spraying of fine WC-12Co powders (-10 + 2 μm) using a novel spray gun “ID RED” (Thermico, Germany) was investigated. Statistical design of experiments (DoE) was employed to analyze and to model the influence of varying spray parameter settings on the in-flight particle behavior and the corresponding coating properties.

The effect of martensitic phase transformation on cavitation erosion resistance for a deposited layer prepared from a Fe-8Cr- C-1.5Al-Ti flux-cored wire of metastable steel was studied. A reference material of AISI 316L stainless steel was used as a substrate. Cavitation tests were performed using a modified ultrasonic tester. X-ray diffraction was used to examine the phase transformation before and after cavitation tests. Also, the eroded surfaces of specimens were investigated by optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and 3D optical profilometer. The cavitation results revealed that the deposited layer exhibited a resistance to cavitation erosion approximately 10 times higher than the AISI 316L steel due to the martensitic phase transformation occurring during the cavitation process. The phase transformation plays a main role to minimize the cavitation damage of specimen. This is due to the fact that it contributes to obstructing movement of dislocations and increasing the hardness as a result of the increased hardening on the surface.

Pulsed plasma transferred arc surfacing is presently used in many industrial applications to make protective layers against corrosion, temperature exposition, and excessive wear. Increasing wear resistance is especially important in areas of industry where titanium alloys are used, such as aviation and cosmonautics, because the wear resistance of titanium alloys is often weak. One way to increase the wear resistance is to deposit or form a cermet with a titanium matrix (TMC) on the surface of the part. The present study deals with the fabrication and characterization of TMC based on B4C. TMC with B4C was formed by cofeeding Ti6Al4V and B4C powder into a melting pool. It has been found that the deposited, relatively thick layers have homogeneously dispersed B4C grains in the matrix. The deposits are metallurgically connected to the substrate - Ti6Al4V. The TMCs were investigated in terms of microstructure and chemical composition. Wear resistance was determined using the linear pin test.

As steam power plants continue to move towards higher operating temperatures in order to improve efficiency, materials exposed to the working fluid are subjected to accelerated degradations in the forms of surface oxidation and reduced mechanical properties. In this study, the oxidation behavior of two cobalt base alloys, CoCrMoSi (T14) and CoCrNiMoSi (T19), was evaluated in superheated steam (SHS, 0.1MPa) at 800 °C for up to 500 hours. After the exposure, both T14 and T19 alloys experienced weight gain caused by oxidation. Visual observation and SEM surface analysis revealed that T19 had greater extent of surface oxide spallation than that seen on T14. From the cross-sectional evaluation, however, a thin, adherent oxide layer was found to have formed on T19. T14 in fact had suffered from excessive internal oxidation and the surface oxide was uneven. Based on the results obtained so far, it is believed that the finer Laves phase combined with greater amount of Cr in alloy T19 have enabled the formation of a protective oxide layer and thus reduced the extent of internal oxidation. Due to the extensive oxidation ingress along the large Laves phase, it is concluded that T14 is not suitable for applications in SHS at 800 °C.

Thermally sprayed ceramic coatings can be used for wear protection as well as thermal and electrical insulation. When exposed to environments with high humidity, the water absorption of the ceramic coating has a tremendous impact on the electrical insulation. In thermally sprayed ceramic coatings, water can easily be absorbed by the porous microstructure of the coating. A general result of the water absorption is the reduction of the dc resistivity. However, in the high frequency regime of ac loads, contrary results were observed for sealed Al 2 O 3 coatings on steel substrates. Specimens exposed to high air humidity have shown an increased ac resistance compared to dry specimens if frequencies above 1 MHz are considered. To analyse this phenomenon, a novel measurement technique was developed to investigate the influence of the water absorption of detached ceramic coatings on the ac resistivity at high frequencies. Moreover, the water absorption of the ceramic is measured gravimetrically. To ensure the results are also applicable to ceramic coatings on substrates, the morphology of the coating was analysed using electron microscopy and compared to reference specimens deposited on steel substrates from [1].

Thermally sprayed Al 2 O 3 -TiO 2 ceramic coatings provide exceptional hardness and corrosion and wear resistance, but the high velocities at which they are applied result in an inherently porous structure that requires some type of remediation. This study evaluates the effectiveness of ultrasonic aluminum phosphate sealing treatments on plasma sprayed Al 2 O 3 -40TiO 2 ceramic coatings. The sealants were applied with and without ultrasonication (20-40 kHz) and were assessed using SEM/EDX analysis, potentiodynamic polarization, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Test data indicate that optimum sealing, corresponding to the highest values of corrosion protection and erosion resistance, are achieved under ultrasonication at 30 kHz for 5 hours.

A typical structure of thermal spray coatings consisted of molten particles, semi-molten particles, oxides, pores and cracks. These factors caused the porosity of sprayed coatings, leading to a great influence on the coating properties, especially their wear-corrosion resistance. In this study, a post-spray sealing treatment of Cr3C2-NiCr/Al2O3-TiO2 plasma sprayed coatings was carried out, then their corrosion properties were evaluated, before and after the treatment. For sealing process, aluminum phosphate (APP) containing aluminum oxide (Al2O3) nanoparticles (~10 nm) was used. The permeability of APP into the sprayed coating was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). The treatment efficiency for porosity and corrosion resistance of sprayed coatings were evaluated by electrochemical measurements, such as the potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. In addition, the wear-corrosion resistance of the sealed coating was examined in 3.5 wt.% NaCl circulation solution containing 0.25 wt.% SiO2 particles. The obtained results showed that APP penetrated deeply through the sprayed coating. The incorporation of Al2O3 nanoparticles into APP sealant enhanced the treatment efficiency of porosity for sprayed coating. The effect of the post-treatment on corrosion protection of the sprayed coating has been discussed.

In general, similar MAX-Phase coatings are considered as oxidation protection layer for preventing disastrous reactions of the Zircaloy fuel rods during a cooling water failure in a nuclear power plant. For the present study on Aerosol Deposition, Ti3SiC2 was selected as MAX-phase model system due to the availability of property data and commercial powder. The as-received powder was milled to different nominal sizes. For revealing details on coating formation and possible bonding mechanisms, Aerosol Deposition experiments were performed for different particle size batches and process gas pressures. Microstructural analyses reveal that coating formation preferably occurs for particle sizes smaller than two microns. Using such small particle sizes, crack-free, dense layers can be obtained. The individual deposition efficiencies for the different particle sizes, particularly the critical size below which deposition gets prominent, vary with process gas flows and associated pressures. Detailed microstructural analyses of coatings by high resolution scanning electron microscopy reveal plastic deformation and fracture, both attributing to shape adaption to previous spray layers and probably bonding. In correlation to coating thickness or deposition efficiencies, respective results give indications for possible bonding mechanisms and a tentative window of Aerosol Deposition for Ti3SiC2 MAX-phases as spray material.

The advantages of UV-curing polymers are well known and used in various coating and adhesive applications. Curing times of a few seconds and long application windows allowing an increased throughput in series production. The use of UV-curing polymers in sealers is beneficial, but so far insufficient due to only surface curing. With a newly developed dual-cure mechanism in sealers, it is now possible to combine deep penetration curing and surface curing. The hybrid sealers combine radical polymerization with subsequent polyaddition or polycondensation. The development of sealers for thermal sprayed (TS) coatings involves an extensive requirement profile. This includes properties such as corrosion protection, penetration depth and processing times. High penetration depths of the sealant into the coating system are important to ensure a protection over the full lifetime of the TS coatings. The depth of penetration of the developed sealers into various TS coatings was determined by measuring the gas permeability in a specially developed test procedure. The corrosion protection effect in combination with TS coatings was determined by measuring the cell voltage. In summary, two UV dual-cure sealers have been developed to seal TS coatings with deep penetration and corrosion protection.

Up to now, the role of particle sizes on deformation features of ceramic particles in aerosol deposition (AD), is not fully understood. For distinguishing general features, two-dimensional molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are applied to study associated phenomena. The nanoparticles are assumed to have original sizes of 10-300 nm and to impact the substrate at velocities of 100-800 m/s. The applied Lennard-Jones potential for the modelled nanoparticles were adjusted to mimic the mechanical properties of TiO2-anatase. For small particles, the simulations reveal three different impact behaviors of (i) rebounding, (ii) bonding and (iii) fragmentation based on initial size and impact velocity, whereas, the larger ones do not show the bonding behavior. The upper limit of the bonding regime shrinks with increasing particle sizes, the field then diminishing for the largest ones. The different impact phenomena were analyzed by evolution of the stress, strain and temperature fields. Stress and strain field results showed that “localized inelastic deformation” occurred at particle sites spreading from the interface to the substrate to the particle core. Calculated temperature fields show a local rise of around 1200 Kelvin due to the inelastic deformation, which is probably sufficient for thermal activation of further deformation features.

Yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) has desirable properties for a thermal barrier coating (TBC), although there are two production challenges. One, YAG has a relatively low thermal expansion coefficient which leads to large thermal mismatch stresses, and two, amorphous phases are produced by atmospheric plasma spraying. Solution precursor plasma spraying (SPPS) has to potential to solve both problems. First off, it produces no amorphous phases. Secondly, it can produce a cracked microstructure that mitigates the CTE mismatch issue. To judge the adequacy of the properties of SPPS YAG, a summary of the properties of common TBCs is presented. It is shown that the properties of SPPS YAG fall within desirable or usable ranges. Current efforts described in this paper focus on improving the efficiency and rate of deposition.

A wide range of properties can be achieved in intermetallic coatings applied by gas detonation spraying (GDS). The properties of Fe-40at%Al GDS layers, however, may change when exposed to temperatures exceeding a threshold level. To characterize such changes, Fe-40at%Al GDS coatings were subjected to systematic dilatometric studies in which temperatures were cycled from room temperature to 1180 °C. The investigation revealed both irreversible and reversible phase transitions as described in the paper. Dilatometry measurements obtained from sintered samples made from the same powder are presented for comparison.

This study investigates the effect of preheating on the dynamic flowability of HVOF powders, including conventional WC-Co, nano WC-Co, WC-FeCrAl, and Cr 3 C 2 -NiCr. The results show that the flowability of WC-Co powders can be significantly improved with a two-hour preheat at 200 °C. One explanation for the improvement is that moisture absorbed by the powder is released during pretreatment, but further study is required as it was found that dynamic density influences flow behavior as well.

Due to the nonsymmetric distribution of the particle plume in conventional plasma spraying, significant influence of the gun scanning pattern can appear in the structure of the coatings obtained. In this study, three scanning patterns are used to deposit YSZ powder by means of air plasma spraying. Cross-sections of the coatings are examined and interfacial fracture toughness and hot corrosion tests are conducted. Improvements in coating adhesion and corrosion resistance were obtained by modifying the scanning pattern of the gun to decrease the possibility of horizontal weak bonding between spray passes.

This study assesses the viability of using nitrogen instead of helium to cold spray NiCoCrAlTaY coatings onto single-crystal superalloy substrates. The process, though feasible, has a low deposition efficiency, leading to a high level of deformation that affects the microstructure of both the coating and substrate. SEM and TEM analysis revealed metallurgical and mechanical bonding at the interface and grain refinement in the coating. A fine grain structure that developed in the substrate after deposition was also observed possibly caused by dynamic recrystallization during the deposition process. Evidence of element segregation in the substrate, identifiable as zones with a deformed γ/γ’ structure, was found as well.

Tungsten and its alloys are promising candidates for protecting plasma-facing components in fusion reactors such as tokamaks. However, processing is complicated by tungsten’s brittleness, CTE mismatch with copper and steel, susceptibility to grain growth and oxidation above 500 °C, and poor weldability. Given these factors, attention is shifting from conventional methods to powder and additive techniques. In this work, two technologies are employed for consolidation of W and WCr layers: cold kinetic spraying and inductively-coupled plasma spraying. Both methods overcome production challenges by depositing plasma-facing layers directly on structural parts, without the need for joining and the risk of oxidation. The properties of W and WCr coatings obtained by both methods are assessed by means of SEM, XRD, and mechanical and thermal analysis.

In this work, silicon carbide coatings were fabricated by plasma spray-vapor deposition in order to study the effect of plasma gas mixtures on coating microstructure and phase composition. Coatings deposited by Ar-H 2 plasma gas were found to contain a composite phase of SiC and Si. Moreover, the content of Si increased with increasing H 2 content in the gas. The deposition of Si is possibly due to the reaction of C and hydrogen species in the plasma jet, which would explain why pure SiC coatings were obtained when Ar-N 2 gas was used.

This study demonstrates a method of plasma spraying in which the plasma is maintained in a laminar (rather than turbulent) state, achieving a much greater jet length with less ambient air engulfment. In the experiments, NiCr coatings were produced at spraying distances between 250 mm and 500 mm, showing that specific structures can be realized by changing stand-off distance. Structures with high porosity, for example, are generated at relatively short distances; dense structures, on the other hand, are obtained at longer stand-off distances that allow feedstock powder to reach a fully melted state. XRD analysis shows that the spraying process does not change the chemical composition of the material, and EDS results indicate that chemical and metallurgical bonding are achieved.