Fabrication of carbide-particle-reinforced titanium aluminide-matrix composites by laser-engineered net shaping

TiAl-based titanium aluminide alloys and their composites reinforced with ceramic particles are considered to be important candidate materials for high-temperature structural applications. Laser-engineered net shaping (LENS) is a layered manufacturing process, which involves laser processing fine powders into three-dimensional components directly from a computer-aided design (CAD) model. In this work, the LENS process was employed to fabricate carbide-particle-reinforced titanium aluminide-matrix composites using TiC and gas-atomized Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb powders as the feedstock materials. The composites deposited by the LENS process were susceptible to solid-state cracking due to high thermal stresses. The microstructures of the laser-deposited monolithic and composite titanium aluminide materials were characterized using light optical microscopy (LOM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis, electron-probe microanalysis (EPMA), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. Effects of the LENS processing parameters on the cracking susceptibility and microstructure were studied. Crack-free deposits were fabricated by preheating the substrate to 450 °C to 500 °C during LENS processing. The fabricated composite deposits exhibit a hardness of more than twice the value of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy.     

Fabrication of carbide-particle-reinforced titanium aluminide-matrix composites by laser-engineered net shaping

TiAl-based titanium aluminide alloys and their composites reinforced with ceramic particles are considered to be important candidate materials for high-temperature structural applications. Laser-engineered net shaping (LENS) is a layered manufacturing process, which involves laser processing fine powders into three-dimensional components directly from a computer-aided design (CAD) model. In this work, the LENS process was employed to fabricate carbide-particle-reinforced titanium aluminide-matrix composites using Tic and gas-atomized Ti−48Al−2Cr−2Nb powders as the feedstock materials. The composites deposited by the LENS process were susceptible to solid-state cracking due to high thermal stresses. The microstructures of the laser-deposited monolithic and composite titanium aluminide materials were characterized using light optical microscopy (LOM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis, electron-probe microanalysis (EPMA), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. Effects of the LENS processing parameters on the cracking susceptibility and microstructure were studied. Crack-free deposits were fabricated by preheating the substrate to 450 °C to 500 °C during LENS processing. The fabricated composite deposits exhibit a hardness of more than twice the value of the Ti−6Al−4V alloy.     

The use of titanium aluminides to form electric-spark coatings

Titanium aluminides (TiAl₃, TiAl, Ti₃Al) fabricated by powder metallurgy were used as alloying electrodes for the formation of electric-spark coatings. Intermetallic coatings were deposited on steel substrates in argon or nitrogen. The microstructure and composition of fabricated coatings were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray structural analysis, and electron probe microanalysis. It is established that initial Ti–Al intermetallic phases are present in fabricated coatings; however, the ratio between Ti and Al concentrations is shifted to aluminum compared with the stoichiometric one. When depositing titanium aluminide in the nitrogen medium, titanium nitride is additionally formed in surface layers. Thermal and tribotechnical tests showed that the Ti₃Al coating deposited in nitrogen possesses high wear resistance and heat resistance.     

Wear Resistance and Bond Strength of Plasma Sprayed Fe/Mo Amorphous Coatings

Fe-based and Fe/Mo composite amorphous coatings were deposited on the surface of plain carbon steel substrates by atmospheric plasma spraying （APS）. With increasing the Mo alloy content, the microstructure of the coatings revealed more dense structure. The porosities of composite coating were all less than those of Fe-based coat- ing due to Mo alloy self-bonding performance. The ML10 friction and wear tester was employed to investigate the wear behaviors of the coatings under dry sliding conditions. It was found that the mass loss of the resultant coatings decreased with increasing Mo-based powders into the feedstock. This was attributed to the reduction of the delamina- tions resulting from improved intersplat bond with Mo addition.     

Process efficiency measurements in the laser engineered net shaping process

A study of laser energy transfer efficiency, melting efficiency, and deposition efficiency has been conducted for the laser-engineered net-shaping process (LENS) for H-13 tool steel and copper powder deposits on H-13 tool steel substrates. This study focused on the effects of laser deposition processing parameters (laser power, travel speed, and powder mass flow rate) on laser beam absorption by the substrate material. Measurements revealed that laser energy transfer efficiency ranged from 30 to 50 pct. Laser beam coupling was found to be relatively insensitive to the range of processing parameters tested. Melting efficiency was found to increase with increasing laser input power, travel speed, and powder mass flow rate. A dimensionless parameter model that has been used to predict melting efficiency for laser beam welding processing was investigated for the LENS process. From these results, a semiempirical model was developed specifically for the LENS processing window. Deposition efficiency was also investigated and results show that under optimum processing conditions, the maximum deposition efficiency was approximately 14 pct. A semiempirical relation was developed to estimate deposition efficiency as a function of process efficiencies and LENS processing parameters. Knowledge of LENS process efficiencies measured in this study is useful to develop accurate heat flow and solidification models for the LENS process.     

Microstructure and Wear Properties of Fe-based Amorphous Coatings Deposited by High-velocity Oxygen Fuel Spraying

Fe-based powder with a composition of Fe_(42.87)Cr_(15.98)Mo_(16.33)C_(15.94)B_(8.88)(at.%)was used to fabricate coatings by high-velocity oxygen fuel spraying.The effects of the spraying parameters on the microstructure and the wear properties of the Fe-based alloy coatings were systematically studied.The results showed that the obtained Fe-based coatings with a thickness of about 400μm consisted of a large-volume amorphous phase and some nanocrystals.With increasing the fuel and oxygen flow rates,the porosity of the obtained coatings decreased.The coating deposited under optimized parameters exhibited the lowest porosity of 2.8%.The excellent wear resistance of this coating was attributed to the properties of the amorphous matrix and the presence of nanocrystals homogeneously distributed within the matrix.The wear mechanism of the coatings was discussed on the basis of observations of the worn surfaces.     

Effect of Nanosecond Laser-Textured Ablation on Performance of Ti6Al4V Alloy Prepared by Composite Nitriding Process

As a widely used orthopedic implant, titanium alloy will face the corrosion of body fluid in human body. In addition, the wear of implants and bones in human body will also reduce the service life of implants. To improve the wear resistance and corrosion resistance of biological titanium alloy, Ti6Al4V alloy was modified by plasma nitriding and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PN + PECVD) composite process, and then samples were ablated by nanosecond laser to form a regular surface texture. The textured Ti6Al4V and PN + PECVD samples marked as Ti6Al4V-T and PN + PECVD-T samples. The microstructure and phase composition of the samples before and after modification were observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). It was found that after PN + PECVD process, a TiN film with a thickness of 2 μm was formed on the surface of Ti6Al4V. The surface texture of Ti6Al4V-T sample was regular, but the PN + PECVD-T sample texture was wide and shallow irregular after nanosecond laser ablation. The Ti–O and Ti–N–O non-stoichiometric compounds appeared on the samples after nanosecond laser ablation. Through the wear and electrochemical corrosion test in SBF, it was found that PN + PECVD sample had the best wear resistance and corrosion resistance. The wear resistance and corrosion resistance of Ti6Al4V-T and PN + PECVD-T samples were much better than that of Ti6Al4V substrate. The results show that, nitrogen oxides formed on the surface had higher microhardness and surface density, which was beneficial to improve the wear resistance and corrosion resistance of implants.

     

Composition control in the direct laser-deposition process

Laser-engineered net shaping (LENS) is a solid freeform fabrication process that has the capability of producing functionally graded material (FGM) components by selectively depositing different powder materials in the melt pool at specific locations in the structure during part buildup. The composition in each layer of an FGM is dependent upon the degree of dilution between the substrate (or previous layer) and powder material. A study on the effects of LENS processing parameters (laser power, travel speed, and powder mass flow rate) on dilution was conducted for deposits of H-13 tool steel and copper powder on H-13 tool steel substrates. When varying a single processing parameter while holding all others constant, the dilution was found to increase with increasing laser input power and travel speed and decrease with increasing powder mass additions into the melt pool. A method for estimating dilution in LENS deposits was developed from knowledge of LENS process efficiencies and material thermophysical properties. A reasonable correlation was shown to exist between the experimentally measured dilution and the dilution calculated from the model.     

工艺参数对超音速火焰喷涂Fe基非晶涂层性能的影响

Fe基非晶涂层具有优异的耐磨、耐蚀性能,以及较高的性价比,适合在表面防护涂层领域广泛应用。本文通过正交试验研究了煤油流量、氧气流量、送粉速率、喷涂距离对超音速火焰喷涂制备的Fe基非晶涂层的孔隙率、硬度、耐磨性能的影响。采用图像法、显微硬度计和摩擦磨损试验机分别对Fe基非晶涂层的孔隙率、硬度、耐磨性能进行了表征。采用X射线衍射仪和扫描电镜分别对涂层的相组成和显微结构进行了表征。通过极差分析法分析得出以涂层孔隙率最低为目标的优化制备工艺,最佳喷涂工艺参数为:煤油流量0.41 L/min,氧气流量830 L/min,喷涂距离430 mm,送粉速率40 g/min。结果表明:送粉速率和氧气流量对涂层孔隙率影响较大,进而影响涂层的硬度及耐磨性能。孔隙率随着氧气流量和送粉速率的增加而增加,随着煤油流量和喷涂距离的增加而降低。制备的Fe基非晶涂层硬度达到1158.9HV0.2,孔隙率为1.22%,磨损实验的质量损失量只有316L不锈钢的一半。     

基于双椭圆平面热源模型的FeCrNiMo 激光熔覆热力耦合数值分析

针对煤矿液压支架和海洋平台立柱的表面防护与修复的工程需求, 采用 FeCrNiMo 马氏体不锈钢粉末在 27SiMn 结构钢基体表面进行激光熔覆, 以改善基体表面的耐磨、 耐蚀综合性能。 本文旨在研究激光能量密度对 FeCrNiMo 熔覆层的截面特征及其开裂倾向的影响, 采用热力耦合有限元模拟方法, 基于双椭圆平面热源模型, 计算分析了 FeCrNiMo 不锈钢粉在 27SiMn 钢基板表面的激光熔覆过程中, 在不同的激光输入能量密度条件下, 熔覆层的温度场和应力场的演变过程。 并采用相同工艺参数进行激光熔覆实验, 通过稀释率（熔覆层横截面中, 母材熔化的面积与整个熔覆层横截面积的百分比） 和熔宽情况的对比, 以验证模拟结果的可靠性。 进而研究激光 能量密度对熔覆层稀释率、 熔宽及其开裂倾向的影响规律。 熔覆层的稀释率、 熔宽均随输入能量密度的增加而增 大, 当输入功率达到 3000W, 熔覆速度 6mm/s 时可获得较理想的稀释率和熔宽。 而熔覆层边缘的应力随输入能 量密度的增加而增大, 其开裂倾向增大; 而熔覆层中心线附近的应力随功率增大而有所降低。 在激光熔覆过程中 提高输入能量虽有利于增大熔宽, 提高熔覆效率, 但是同时增加了熔覆层的稀释率及其边缘开裂倾向。     

等离子喷涂WC-12Co涂层制备及耐磨耐蚀性研究

采用等离子喷涂方法,在不同送粉量和喷涂距离下制备WC-12Co涂层,研究了喷涂工艺参数变化对涂层显微结构、结合强度、表面硬度及耐磨耐蚀性能的影响.利用扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、能谱仪（EDS）测试分析了涂层的形貌和成分;利用显微硬度计测定了涂层的显微硬度;利用万能试验机测定了涂层的抗拉强度;利用高速环块磨损实验机测试了涂层的耐磨性能;利用CHI660D电化学工作站和三电极体系测试了涂层的电化学性能.结果表明,喷涂过程中送粉量和喷涂距离的改变对WC-12Co涂层的结合强度和硬度影响显著,喷涂过程中有新相产生,合理喷涂工艺参数的优选可使涂层的抗拉强度和表面硬度显著提高,涂层孔隙分布均匀,耐磨耐蚀性能良好.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">In-situ</Emphasis> reactive processing of nickel aluminides by laser-engineered net shaping

Nickel aluminide intermetallics (e.g., Ni₃Al and NiAl) are considered to be attractive materials for high-temperature structural applications. Laser-engineered net shaping (LENS) is a rapid prototyping process, which involves laser processing fine metal powders into three-dimensional shapes directly from a computer-aided design (CAD) model. In this work, an attempt has been made to fabricate aluminide intermetallic compounds via reactive in-situ alloying from elemental powders using the LENS process. In-situ reactive alloying was achieved by delivering elemental Ni and Al powders from two different powder feeders, eliminating segregation observed in the samples deposited by using the premixed elemental powders. Nickel aluminides of various compositions were obtained easily by regulating the ratio of their feed rates. The aluminide deposits exhibited a high solidification and subsolidus cracking susceptibility and porosity formation. The observed porosity resulted from a water-atomized Ni powder and can be minimized or eliminated by the use of a N₂-gas-atomized Ni powder of improved quality. Cracking was due to the combined effect of the high thermal stresses generated from the LENS processing and the brittleness of the intermetallics. Crack-free deposits were fabricated by preheating the substrate to a temperature of 450 °C to 500 °C during LENS processing. Compositionally graded Ni-Al deposits with a gradient microstructure were also produced by the in-situ reactive processing.     

激光熔敷Ni60／WC合金层的腐蚀磨损特性

研究了４５钢表面激光熔敷镍基ＷＣ合金层的耐蚀性及在不同冲击速度和不同浓度酸性介质下的腐蚀磨损特性。结果表明，激光熔敷Ｎｉ６０／ＷＣ合金层不论耐蚀性还是抗腐蚀磨损性能同于２Ｃｒ１３不锈钢。应用微机对试验结果进行逐步回归分析，得出了影响因素与腐蚀磨损速度的害量关系，并探讨了熔敷层的腐蚀磨损过程。     

含P元素铁基非晶合金涂层在碱性溶液中的耐蚀性能影响因素的研究

本文采用含有P元素的铁基合金粉末,通过大气等离子喷涂工艺(APS)制备具有不同非晶相含量、孔隙率和表面粗糙度的非晶合金涂层,通过电化学工作站对涂层在碱性腐蚀介质中的耐蚀性能进行了研究。提出贡献率的概念,为非晶合金涂层的耐蚀性能提供了评价方法。研究表明非晶相含量、孔隙率和表面粗糙度对铁基非晶合金涂层在碱性溶液中自腐蚀电位贡献率的大小分别为66.34%,33.66%和0%;对自腐蚀电流密度贡献率的大小分别为86.19%,13.19%和0.6%。     

Wear-resistant amorphous and nanocomposite steel coatings

In this article, amorphous and nanocomposite thermally deposited steel coatings have been formed by using both plasma and high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spraying techniques. This was accomplished by developing a specialized iron-based composition with a low critical cooling rate (≈10⁴ K/s) for metallic glass formation, processing the alloy by inert gas atomization to form micron-sized amorphous spherical powders, and then spraying the classified powder to form coatings. A primarily amorphous structure was formed in the as-sprayed coatings, independent of coating thickness. After a heat treatment above the crystallization temperature (568 °C), the structure of the coatings self-assembled (i.e., devitrified) into a multiphase nanocomposite microstructure with 75 to 125 nm grains containing a distribution of 20 nm second-phase grain-boundary precipitates. Vickers microhardness testing revealed that the amorphous coatings were very hard (10.2 to 10.7 GPa), with further increases in hardness after devitrification (11.4 to 12.8 GPa). The wear characteristics of the amorphous and nanocomposite coatings were determined using both two-body pin-on-disk and three-body rubber wheel wet-slurry sand tests. The results indicate that the amorphous and nanocomposite steel coatings are candidates for a wide variety of wear-resistant applications.     

Friction Stir Surfacing Route: Effective Strategy for the Enhancement of Wear Resistance of Titanium Alloy

Titanium alloys are widely used in aerospace applications due to their properties like high strength to weight ratio, good corrosion and creep resistance. Poor wear resistance of these alloys limits their use in tribological applications. Friction surfacing technique is now recognized as an effective solution to surface engineer the light weight high strength alloys to make them suitable for general engineering applications involving wear and corrosion. The present work pertains to a study on wear resistance of surface coating of boron carbide on Ti–6Al–4V alloy using friction surfacing technique. Coating was formed by placing the boron carbide powder into the holes of predetermined depth on the surface and was characterized by metallography, electron probe micro analysis and dry sliding wear testing. The present study revealed that titanium alloy could be friction surfaced with boron carbide powder. The coating exhibited excellent wear resistance, which is attributed to the formation of strong metallurgical bond with the substrate. In the present work an attempt has also been made to compare the wear behaviour of surface composite layer on titanium alloy with that of conventionally used engineering materials such as mild steel and austenitic stainless steel. Wear data clearly revealed that wear resistance of friction stir surfaced composite layer is better than that of mild steel and stainless steel. This study demonstrated that friction stir surfacing is an effective strategy for the enhancement of wear resistance of titanium alloys.     

Numerical Simulation of Transport Phenomena for a Double-Layer Laser Powder Deposition of Single-Crystal Superalloy

A turbine blade made of single-crystal superalloys has been commonly used in gas turbine and aero engines. As an effective repair technology, laser powder deposition has been implemented to restore the worn turbine blade tips with a near-net shape capability and highly controllable solidified microstructure. Successful blade repair technology for single-crystal alloys requires a continuous epitaxial grain growth in the same direction of the crystalline orientation of the substrate material to the newly deposited layers. This work presents a three-dimensional numerical model to simulate the transport phenomena for a multilayer coaxial laser powder deposition process. Nickel-based single-crystal superalloy Rene N5 powder is deposited on a directional solidified substrate made of nickel-based directional-solidified alloy GTD 111 to verify the simulation results. The effects of processing parameters including laser power, scanning speed, and powder feeding rate on the resultant temperature field, fluid velocity field, molten pool geometric sizes, and the successive layer remelting ratios are studied. Numerical simulation results show that the maximum temperature of molten pool increases over layers due to the reduced heat dissipation capacity of the deposited geometry, which results in an increased molten pool size and fluid flow velocity at the successive deposited layer. The deposited bead geometry agrees well between the simulation and the experimental results. A large part of the first deposition layer, up to 85 pct of bead height, can be remelted during the deposition of the second layer. The increase of scanning speed decreases the ratio of G/V (temperature gradient/solidification velocity), leading to an increased height ratio of the misoriented grain near the top surface of the previous deposited layer. It is shown that the processing parameters used in the simulation and experiment can produce a remelting ratio R larger than the misoriented grain height ratio S, which enables remelting of all the misoriented grains and guarantees a continuous growth of the substrate directional-solidified crystalline orientation during the multilayer deposition of single-crystal alloys.     

Cr-Fe-Ti-C系反应火焰喷涂研究

采用钛铁、石墨、铁粉和高碳铬铁为原料,利用反应火焰喷涂技术制备了Cr-Fe-Ti-C系涂层。研究结果表明,在喷涂过程中合成了TiC,涂层主要由TiC、（Cr,Fe)7C3硬质相和Fe组成。SRV磨听见试验表明,由于涂层中含有（Cr,Fe)7C3及合成的TiC硬质相,因此涂层具有良好的耐磨性能;涂层的磨损机理为粘着磨损和硬质的剥落,但主要是粘着磨损。由于（Cr,Fe）7C3需要Ti-C之间的反应放热补充热量才能使其完全熔化,因此高碳铬铁含量的增加对改善涂层的致密性和结合强度不利。     

Distribution Characteristics and Reinforcing Behavior of (Ti,Nb)C Reinforced Particle in the Coating Fabricated by Laser Rapid Cladding

(Ti,Nb)C reinforced Fe-based laser coatings were prepared with normal and high scanning velocities of the laser beam.The distribution characteristics of reinforced particles in the coatings were investigated.The mechanical properties of coatings were tested.The results showed that the morphologies of the microstructure and the reinforced particle changed dramatically at high solidification rate due to rapid laser processing compared with that prepared by normal processing.Two kinds of particles were observed in the coating.One was(Ti,Nb)C multiple carbide particle with the size of micron and sub-micron scales,in which a mass of dislocations were found.Another was nano-sized particle includingα-Fe and(Ti,Nb)C obtained by rapid solidification.The microstructure of the coatings was highly refined and a large number of twin crystals were found in matrix.The results of mechanical properties test revealed that the wear resistance of the coating was improved by rapid laser processing,compared with that of the coating prepared with normal speeds.The above-mentioned conclusion indicated that rapid laser cladding can promote not only the processing efficiency but also the mechanical properties of the coating.     

Laser Engineered Net Shape (LENS) Technology for the Repair of Ni-Base Superalloy Turbine Components

The capability of the laser engineered net shape (LENS) process was evaluated for the repair of casting defects and improperly machined holes in gas turbine engine components. Various repair geometries, including indentations, grooves, and through-holes, were used to simulate the actual repair of casting defects and holes in two materials: Alloy 718 and Waspaloy. The influence of LENS parameters, including laser energy density, laser scanning speed, and deposition pattern, on the repair of these defects and holes was studied. Laser surface remelting of the substrate prior to repair was used to remove machining defects and prevent heat-affected zone (HAZ) liquation cracking. Ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation techniques were used as a possible approach for detecting lack-of-fusion in repairs. Overall, Alloy 718 exhibited excellent repair weldability, with essentially no defects except for some minor porosity in repairs representative of deep through-holes and simulated large area casting defects. In contrast, cracking was initially observed during simulated repair of Waspaloy. Both solidification cracking and HAZ liquation cracking were observed in the repairs, especially under conditions of high heat input (high laser power and/or low scanning speed). For Waspaloy, the degree of cracking was significantly reduced and, in most cases, completely eliminated by the combination of low laser energy density and relatively high laser scanning speeds. It was found that through-hole repairs of Waspaloy made using a fine powder size exhibited excellent repair weldability and were crack-free relative to repairs using coarser powder. Simulated deep (7.4 mm) blind-hole repairs, representative of an actual Waspaloy combustor case, were successfully produced by the combination use of fine powder and relatively high laser scanning speeds.