Plasma spray forming of functionally graded materials mould

A new technology of functionally graded materials(FGM) mould fabricated by plasma spraying and arc spraying was developed. According to applied characteristic of plastic mould, the reasonable coatings of FGM were designed and their microstructures were analyzed. At the same time, some key problems were solved including spray mould fabricating, FGM forming and demoulding, etc. The results show that the service performance of the FGM mould is much more excellent than the one composed of the traditional materials, and the life span can also be greatly increased. The technology will have a significant influence on materials development in mould industry.     

Preparation of Al/Si functionally graded materials using ultrasonic separation method

Functionally graded materials （FGM） have been widely used in many industries such as aerospace, energy and electronics. In this experimental study of fabricating FGM, an approach was developed to prepare AI/Si FGM using power ultrasonic separation method. Material sample with continuously changing composition and performance/properties was successfully produced. Results showed that the microstructure of the FGM sample transited, from its top to bottom, from the hypereutectic structure with a large quantity of primary Si gradually to the eutectic, and finally to the hypoeutectic with numerous primary AI dendrites. The distribution of primary Si and microhardness of the FGM sample also presented graded characteristics, resulting that the wear resistance of the FGM sample decreased from top to bottom. Preliminary discussion was made on the mechanism of the formation of AI/Si FGM.     

Mechanical properties of CNT reinforced hybrid functionally graded materials for bioimplants

The hybrid functionally graded materials (FGM) of hydroxyapatite (HA), stainless steel 316L (SS316L) and carbon nanotubes (CNT) were synthesized for biomedical implants. Three different types of FGM were produced by the combination of SS316L and CNT to reinforce HA in discrete layers of FGM. In the first type of FGM, concentration of SS316L was varied from 10% to 40% (mass fraction) with an increment of 10% to reinforce micro HA. In the second type of FGM, 0.5% (mass fraction) functionalized CNT was added by maintaining the rest of composition as that of the first type of FGM. In the third type of FGM, mixture of micro and nano HA (mass ratio1:1) was used, keeping rest of composition similar to the second type of FGM. All types of FGM were subjected to uniaxial compaction and sintered by pressureless sintering technique at similar compaction and sintering parameters. The results show that the densification is enhanced with the addition of CNT and nanocrystalline HA in the FGM. Hardness and fracture toughness increase in both FGM reinforced with CNT, but the increase of the hardness and fracture toughness are more pronounced in FGM with micro and nanocrystalline HA.     

Use of plasma spraying in the manufacture of continuously graded and layered/graded molybdenum disilicide/alumina composites

Plasma spraying was used to produce continuously graded and graded/layered structures of molybdenum disilicide (MoSi₂) and alumina (Al₂O₃). These functionally graded materials (FGMs) were achieved by manipulating the powder hoppers and plasma torch translation via in-house created computer software. The resultant microstructures sprayed uniformly and were crack free. The interface between MoSi₂ and Al₂O₃ was continuous and no evidence of debonding or cracking at the interface was found. The mechanical strength of these sprayed materials was evaluated using C-ring samples (in diametrical compression). Weibull analysis conducted on the C-ring data indicated that the continuously graded samples were slightly stronger and had a significantly narrower strength distribution than the graded/layered samples. Although the average strength values of both types of functionally graded samples were closer to those of monolithic MoSi₂, the fracture energy of the graded samples was significantly larger (∼2–3 times) compared with the monolithic materials. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) conducted on the fracture surfaces of the FGMs illustrated a wavy and tortuous crack path through the composite cross section of the sample, with extensive crack kinking. This study has two important results. First, we demonstrated the ability to produce such functionally graded composite ceramic microstructures using a conventional plasma spraying process. Second, we quantified the improvements in mechanical performance provided by these FGMs over conventional monolithic materials.     

Microstructures of functionally graded materials fabricated by centrifugal solid-particle andin-situ methods

Functionally graded materials (FGMs) belong to a relatively new class of inhomogeneous composite materials, in which the composition and/or microstructure undergo a gradual change along some directions. In this review article, the microstructures and composition gradients in Al/SiC, Al/Shirasu (volcanic eruptions commonly found in south Kyushu in Japan), Al/Al₃Ti, Al/Al₃Ni, Al/Al₂Cu FGMs have been investigated. The Al/SiC, Al/Shirasu and Al/Al₃Ti FGMs are fabricated by the centrifugal solid particle method where the distribution particles of SiC, Shirasu and Al₃Ti are solids in the melts. On the other hand, Al/Al₃Ni and Al/Al₂Cu FGMs are fabricated by the centrifugalin-situ method where Al/Al₃Ni and Al/Al₂Cu systems have lower liquidus temperatures than the processing temperatures. The feature of Al/(Al₃Ti−Al₃Ni) hydrid FGM, which is fabricated by a method combining both the centrifugal solid-particle andin-situ methods, is also shown.     

Plasma spraying of functionally graded yttria stabilized zirconia/NiCoCrAlY coating system using composite powders

Pre-alloyed and plasma spheroidized composite powders were used as the feedstock in the plasma spraying of functionally graded yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ)/NiCoCrAlY coatings. The ball milling parameters of the composite powders and the plasma spraying parameters for preparing functionally graded materials (FMGs) coatings were optimized to obtain the best performance for the thermal barrier coatings (TBCs). Microstructure, physical, mechanical, and thermal properties of YSZ/NiCoCrAlY FGMs coatings were investigated and compared with those of traditional duplex coatings. Results showed that the advantages of using pre-alloyed composite powders in plasma spraying were to ensure chemical homogeneity and promote uniform density along the graded layers. Microstructure observation showed the gradient distribution of YSZ and NiCoCrAlY phases in the coating, and no clear interface was found between two adjacent different layers. Oxidation occurred during plasma spray and the resultant aluminum oxide combines with YSZ in a wide range of proportions. The bond strength of functionally graded coatings was about twice as high as that of the duplex coatings because of the significant reduction of the residual stresses in the coatings. The thermal cycling resistance of functionally graded coating was much better than that of duplex coating.     

Gradient profile prediction in functionally graded materials processed by electrophoretic deposition

Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) allows the formation of plate-shaped binary functionally graded materials (FGM) by depositing from a powder suspension to which a second suspension is continuously added during the process. The deposition yield is described as a function of time and starting composition of both suspensions, resulting in a model of the EPD process that allows predicting the composition gradient in the green deposit as well as in the sintered material. The model presented enables calculation of the composition gradient in the FGM material from the starting composition of the suspensions, the EPD operating parameters and the powder-specific EPD characteristics. The powder-specific parameters, i.e. the effective charge, the electrophoretic mobility, the specific conductivity of the intermicellar liquid and the specific resistance of the deposit, incorporated in the model were experimentally determined from EPD of the individual homogeneous powder suspensions. The model was verified for the ZrO₂-Al₂O₃ system by the actual preparation and analysis of two different FGM materials. Because of the excellent correlation between the predicted and the measured concentration profiles, the described model allows to precisely engineer and design the composition profile in FGM materials produced by EPD.     

Damage tolerant functionally graded WC-Co/Stainless Steel HVOF coatings

In this paper, effective damage tolerance of a functionally graded coating (FGC) deposited by high velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) spraying is observed. The thick FGC (≈ 1.2 mm) consists of 6 layers with a stepwise change in composition from 100 vol.% ductile AISI316 stainless steel (bottom layer) to 100 vol.% hard WC-12Co (top layer) deposited onto an AISI316 stainless steel substrate. Damage tolerance is observed via 1) an increase in compliance with depth, and 2) an increase in fracture resistance by containment, arrest and deflection of cracks. A smooth gradation in the composition and hardness through the coating thickness is found by scanning electron microscopy and depth-sensing microindentation, respectively. The in-situ curvature measurement technique reveals that during the deposition of the FGC, compressive stresses exist in the lower, metallic layers owing to peening effect of successive impact, and these gradually evolve to high tensile, in the top layers. Tensile stresses appear to be due to quenching alone; thermal stresses are low because of the gradation. All of this is beneficial for the deposition of a thick coating.The FGC structure shows the ability to reduce cracking with increased compliance in the top layer during static and dynamic normal contact loading, while retaining excellent sliding wear resistance (ball-on-disk tests). Results are discussed in comparison to the behavior and properties of coatings of similar individual compositions and thicknesses, as well as a thick monolithic WC-12Co sprayed coating. Further improvements in the processing are proposed to enhance the adhesion strength and avoid coating delamination under high load contact-fatigue conditions.     

Effect of spray parameters on residual stress build-up of HVOF sprayed aluminium/tool-steel functionally graded coatings

The High Velocity Oxy–Fuel (HVOF) process is one of the most versatile thermal spray technologies and has found use in many industries due to its flexibility and cost effectiveness. It is normally used to protect components against wear, heat and/or corrosion and has the potential to produce functionally graded coatings. Gradual changes of microstructure in functionally graded coatings reduce possible residual stress build-up by gradually attaining property changes between the substrate and the coating. Effectively this is done by depositing layers of coatings of varying composition. The present study investigates the effect of spray parameters on residual stress build-up in aluminium/tool-steel functionally graded coatings (FGC). A simple 3³ factorial design of experiments was employed to establish the effects of spray parameters on residual stress. Residual stress was measured using Clyne's analytical method. Parameters such as flow rate ratio of the oxygen to propylene, flow rate of the compressed air and spray distance were varied during coating deposition. Apart from the thickness of the coated sample, the spray distance showed greater effect on residual stress build-up in the graded coatings compared to flow rate ratio of the oxygen to propylene, and flow rate of the compressed air. Finally a set of values of spray parameters giving the best compromise between low residual stress and high deposited coating thickness were identified. This paper concluded that the optimised set of parameters for FGC resembles the parameters recommended for the deposition of the powder with the lowest melting and boiling point; in this case aluminium.     

Thermal spraying of reactive materials to form wear-resistant composite coatings

The dispersion of more than 20 vol.% submicrometer ceramic particles within a metallic matrix and the deposition of such a cermet to form a thick and tough coating presents problems. Most of the coating techniques have failed in attempting to homogeneously disperse very fine and hard particles in large amounts while avoiding their decomposition or reaction with the metal matrix during the deposition process. A simple and efficient method has been developed for producing ceramic-containing composite coatings. It consists in synthesizing cermet-based materials and in depositing them by a rapid solidification process such as thermal spraying. Boride- and carbide-based materials have been successfully obtained by plasma spraying reactive powders comprising the basic reagents. These materials, with a microstructure of submicrometer ceramic particles dispersed in a metallic matrix, exhibit good wear-resistant properties (abrasion and sliding wear). Finally, reactive core wire arc spraying is suggested as a flexible way to produce coatings containing up to 25 vol.% TiB₂.     

Adhesive/cohesive properties of thermally sprayed functionally graded coatings for polymer matrix composites

High-velocity oxyfuel (HVOF) sprayed polyimide/WC-Co functionally graded (FGM) coatings with flame-sprayed WC-Co topcoats have been investigated as solutions to improve the solid-particle erosion and oxidation resistance of polymer matrix composites (PMCs) in the gas flow path of advanced turbine engines. Porosity, coating thickness, and volume fraction of the WC-Co phase retained in the graded coating architecture were determined using standard metallographic techniques and computer image analysis. The adhesive bond strength of three different types of coatings was evaluated according to ASTM D 4541. Adhesive/cohesive strengths of the FGM coating were measured and compared with those of pure polyimide and polyimide/WC-Co composite coatings and also related to the tensile strength of the uncoated PMC substrate perpendicular to the thickness. The FGM coatings exhibited lower adhesive bond strengths (∼6.2 MPa) than pure polyimide coatings (∼8.4 MPa), and in all cases these values were lower than the tensile strength (∼17.6 MPa) of the reference uncoated PMC substrate. The nature and locus of the failures were characterized according to the percent adhesive and/or cohesive failure, and the interfaces tested and layers involved were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. The original version of this paper was published as part of the ASM Proceedings, Thermal Spray 2003: Advancing the Science and Applying the Technology, International Thermal Spray Conference (Orlando, FL), 5–8 May, 2003, Basil R. Marple and Christian Moreau, Eds., ASM International, 2003.     

Present status of research on design and processing of functionally graded materials

Recent activities in the research of functionally graded materials (FGMs) are reviewed with an emphasis on the fabrication techniques for graded microstructure and functions. The research activities have focused on the processing of graded structures that satisfy the designed functions. Several examples of practical applications of FGMs are described in the present paper to demonstrate the fabrication approaches typical to this kind of material. The remainder of the paper is devoted to summarizing a recently finished national project supported by the Ministry of Education of Japan. Research and developments with respect to FGMs in various fields including physics, chemistry, medical science, and biology are briefly reviewed. This article is based on a presentation made in the symposium “The 3rd KIM-JIM Joint Symposium on Advanced Powder Materials”, held at Korea University, Seoul, Korea, October 26–27, 2001 under auspices of The Korean Institute of Metals and Materials and The Japan Institute of Metals. Present at the Fine Ceramic Center, Atsuta-ku, Nagoya, Japan     

有裂纹的功能梯度材料板平面问题的随机动态响应(英文)

研究有裂纹的功能梯度材料板平面问题的随机动态断裂,建立平面问题的随机模型。功能梯度材料的物理力学性能沿厚度方向的非均匀随机变化为沿厚度方向的随机场。作用在裂纹面上的动荷载为时间的平稳随机过程,裂纹与功能梯度材料面平行。通过分层法,将随机场的问题转化为多个随机变量的问题进行求解。利用积分变换方法和奇异积分方程技术,得到动态响应的解析形式和裂纹起始扩展的概率计算公式,分析了各参数(裂纹长度、随机场参数和裂纹位置)对动态应力强度因子的影响。结果表明:随着裂纹长度、随机场参数β以及裂纹位置比率 h2/h 的增大,应力强度因子的数学期望和标准方差均相应增大。     

Hydroxyapatite coatings for biomedical applications deposited by different thermal spray techniques

Thermally sprayed hydroxyapatite (HAp) coatings are widely used for various biomedical applications due to the fact that HAp is a bioactive, osteoconductive material capable of forming a direct and firm biological fixation with surrounding bone tissue.Bioceramic coatings based on nanoscale HAp suspension and microscale HAp powder were thermally sprayed on Ti plates by high-velocity suspension flame spraying (HVSFS) technique and atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) as well as high velocity oxy fuel spraying (HVOF) technique. HVSFS is a novel thermal spray process developed at IMTCCC, for direct processing of submicron and nano-sized particles dispersed in a liquid feedstock.The deposited coatings were mechanically characterized including surface roughness, micro hardness and coating porosity. The bond strength of the layer composites were analyzed by the pull-off method and compared for the different spray techniques. Phase content and crystallinity of the coatings were evaluated using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The coating composite specimen and initial feedstock were further analysed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and rheology analysis.     

Reactive plasma spraying of wear-resistant coatings

A method for producing wear-resistant, carbide-reinforced coatings has been investigated. A conventional low-pressure plasma gun has been modified with a downstream reactor into which carbon-containing gases are mixed, heated, and disassociated. The disassociated gas ions—H* and C* —are subsequently brought into contact with heated, molten metal matrix powders. Experiments with NiCr/Ti blends and W powders have shown that uniformly dispersed carbides such as, TiC, Cr^Cy, WC, and W2C were formed in situ on the metal precursor powders during deposition. The in situ formed particles, being formed directly from the matrices, show excellent matrix cohesion and lead to high and uniform deposit microhardnesses. The process is described and several evaluations of materials, reactive gases, and spray conditions are reported. Microanalysis of the coatings are presented, microhardness values are reported, and XRD identifies the in situ formed phases.     

两元P-型梯度结构热电材料FeSi_2/Bi_2Te_3的制备与性能

采用热浸焊法用纯Sn作为过渡层制备了P 型FeSi2 /Bi2 Te3 梯度结构热电材料并对其热电性能进行了测试。发现当热端温度在 5 10℃以下时 ,梯度结构热电材料的平均Seebeck系数保持恒定 ,达 2 2 0 μV/K至 2 5 0μV/K左右 ,显著高于单一均质材料 (Bi2 Te3 和 β FeSi2 )在相同温度范围内的平均Seebeck系数。梯度结构热电材料的输出功率较单种材料高 1.5至 2倍以上 ,且当材料经 190℃ ,10 0h与 2 0 0h的真空退火后 ,输出功率几乎不变。金相观察表明 ,在Sn层与两半导体界面处 ,没有明显的Sn扩散迹象 ,说明在所试验的条件下 ,用Sn作为过渡层热稳定性较好。     

Thermal analysis of functionally graded coating AlSi alloy and steel pistons

Functionally graded coatings are coating systems used to increase performances of high temperature components in diesel engines. These coatings consist of a transition from the metallic bond layer to cermet and from cermet to the ceramic layer. In this study, thermal behavior of functional graded coatings on AlSi and steel piston materials was investigated by means of using a commercial code, namely ANSYS. Thermal analyses were employed to deposit metallic, cermet and ceramic powders such as NiCrAl, NiCrAl + MgZrO₃ and MgZrO₃ on the substrate. The numerical results of AlSi and steel pistons are compared with each other. It was shown that the maximum surface temperature of the functional graded coating AlSi alloy and steel pistons was increased by 28% and 17%, respectively.     

Characteristics of high hardness alumina coatings formed by gas tunnel plasma spraying

High hardness alumina coatings were formed at atmospheric pressure by gas tunnel plasma spraying, and the characteristics of these coatings were investigated. The hardness on the cross section of the alumina coating at a short spraying distance was more than 1300 HV, and the thickness of the hard layer increased with an increase of power input. The microstructure of the alumina coating was investigated by microscopy and x-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. It was ascertained that the cell size was small (∼10 μn), and α-alumina was dominant in the high hardness layer of the coating. Finally, the effect of plasma energy was estimated from these results.     

HA/316L粉非对称生物FGM的微观组织与增韧机制

采用热压工艺制备了HA／316L粉非对称生物功能梯度材料（FGM）。HA／316L粉非对称生物FGM在宏观上呈现明显的梯度,微观上则表现出成分连续变化,且各成分分布均匀、弥散。在各梯度层内部及界面都没有裂纹及大孔洞出现,界面结合紧密。随着316L粉的含量增加,韧窝的数量逐渐增加,韧窝形貌由浅变深,边缘由尖锐逐渐变得圆滑,表明材料由脆性断裂向韧性断裂转化。纯HA梯度层为典型的脆性断裂,HA80／316L和HA60／316L梯度层表现为典型的晶间断裂,HA40／316L和HA20／316L梯度层断裂性质为晶间断裂中掺杂有韧性断裂,而316L梯度层则表现为典型的韧性断裂。316L粉的加入改变了HA／316L粉生物FGM各梯度层的断裂方式,从而提高了材料的力学性能。从整体上而言,HA／316L粉生物FGM主要增韧机制包括层间裂纹偏转增韧与裂纹偏转增韧。