The Effect of Heat Treatment on the Microstructure and Phase Composition of Plasma Sprayed Al2O3 and Al2O3-TiO2 Coatings for Applications in Biomass Firing Plants

This study presents the thermal and chemical resistance of plasma-sprayed Al2O3 and Al2O3 doped with 13 wt.% of TiO2 coatings and their suitability for the fire grate of straw pellet furnaces. Coatings were deposited on steel substrates using direct current atmospheric pressure plasma spraying. The surface structure, elemental, and phase composition of formed coatings were analyzed before and after the thermal treatment, imitating natural application conditions. For the experiment, the annealing temperature was 500 °C for twenty-five cycles (80 min each). It was found that the steel substrate oxidized after five thermal cycles, and the formation of iron oxides was observed. The elemental composition of the Al2O3 and Al2O3-13 wt.% TiO2 coatings remained unchanged even after 25 cycles of heat treatment. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results revealed that the alpha-Al2O3 to gamma-Al2O3 phase ratio in the Al2O3-TiO2 coating was reduced by only 8.7% after 25 cycles.

Deciphering the role of Al2O3 formed during isothermal oxidation in a dual-phase AlCoCrFeNi2.1 Eutectic High-Entropy Alloy

In recent times, there has been a significant volume of work on Eutectic High Entropy Alloys (EHEAs) owing to their remarkable castability combined with excellent mechanical properties, which aids in clearing obstacles for their technological applications. One of the most common EHEAs, which has been of enormous interest at present, primarily owing to its solidification and tensile behavior, is AlCoCrFeNi2.1. However, to aim for high-temperature applications, oxidation behaviour of material is one of the major aspects that needs to be extensively investigated. To this end, the present work aims to study the phases evolved during oxidation at elevated temperatures as high as 950 and 1000°C in AlCoCrFeNi2.1 using XRD and also to determine the rate law followed for isothermal oxidation of this alloy at 950 and 1000°C, in order to understand the role of Al2O3 phase formed during isothermal oxidation at 950 and 1000°C.

Research of annealing influence on the hardness of detonation coatings from aluminum oxide

The article examines the effect of annealing on the structure and properties of alumina-based coatings obtained by detonation spraying. Coated samples were kept separately at temperatures of 500, 700, 800 and 1200 °C at a pressure of 3.6*10-4 Pa for more than 1 hour. It was found that the microhardness of coatings made of alumina increases by 15-30 % after annealing depending on annealing temperature. The results of nanoindentation show that at 1200 °C the nanohardness of coatings after annealing increases by almost 100%. Aluminum oxide coating is characterized by high strength and density of the coating before and after annealing, and slight porosity. Results of X-ray analysis showed that the alumina powder consists of α-Al2O3 lattice, and after detonation injection coating cubes are converted into a semi-γ-cubic lattice. It was found that during the annealing of the coating at 1200 °C all cells of γ-phase completely transit to the α-phase. It was found that the increase in hardness after annealing of alumina coating at 500, 700, 800 and 1200 °C is associated with an increase in volume fraction of α-Al2O3 phase.

Influence of Detonation-Spraying Parameters on the Phase Composition and Tribological Properties of Al2O3 Coatings

Al2O3 coatings were applied on the surface of 12Ch18N10T steel by the detonation method at different degrees of filling of the detonation gun. The aim was to study the influence of technological parameters on the formation of the coating’s structure, phase composition and tribological characteristics. The degree of filling the gun with a gas mixture (C2H2/O2) varied from 53% to 68%. X-ray diffraction study showed that the content of α-Al2O3 increases depending on the degree of filling. The results showed that the hardness increases with an increase in the α-Al2O3 phase. When the gun is 53% filled with gas, the Al2O3-based coating has the hardness of 20.56 GPa compared to 58%, 63% and 68% fillings. Tribology tests have shown that the wear rate and friction coefficient of the coating is highly dependent on the degree of filling of the gun.

Obtaining multilayer coatings by the detonation spraying method

This work were studied the effect of technological parameters of detonation spraying on the phase composition and tribological characteristics on the bases of NiCr and Al2O3 coatings. As well as there was obtained and investigated multilayer coating on the bases of NiCr/NiCr- Al2O3/Al2O3 . It was determined that during detonation spraying the phase composition of Al2O3 coatings strongly depends on the degree of filling the borehole with a gas mixture. The a - Al2O3 -phase content in the coatings increases when the degree of filling is 63% and 54%. Only one CrNi3 phase is observed on the diffractograms and only increase of reflex intensity (020) at barrel filling by 58% is observed by sputtering on the bases of NiCr coatings in different degrees of barrel filling. The results of the coating nanohardness study showed that the hardness of the Al2O3 coating increases depending on the content of a- Al2O3 in it. Al2O3 coating has the maximum nanohardness values and is 16.42 GPa at the borehole is filled to 63%. The nanohardness of NiCr coating has the maximum values at barrel filling by 58% and consisting of 8.02 GPa.

Suspension Spraying Tip: High Molecular Weight Solvent

In suspension spraying, the two most frequently used solvents are water and ethanol. In this study, we test a potential alternative, a high-molecular weight solvent. Two organic solvents are compared: ethanol (serving as a benchmark, suspension formulated at 10 wt.% solid load) and di-propylene glycol methyl ether (two suspensions at 10 wt.% and 20 wt.%). Submicron alpha-alumina powder is used as a model material to formulate the suspensions. It is shown that ethanol- and ether-based-feedstock coatings are fully comparable in terms of their microstructure, porosity content, surface roughness, and hardness. However, the ether-based coatings exhibit slightly higher levels of α-Al2O3 phase than their ethanol-based counterpart (17 wt.% vs. 6 wt.%). The use of 20 wt.% solid load in the ether solvent leads to a twofold increase in the deposition rate while, as opposed to ethanol, successfully retaining a dense microstructure. Ether also costs less than ethanol and is safer to handle.

The Effect of Chelate Compounds on the Hydration Process of MgO–Al2O3 Phase System under Hydrothermal Conditions

In refractory castables during heat treatment, there is a dynamic change from a hydraulic bond to a ceramic bond. During heating, the emission of water takes place; this changes the conditions inside the material to something similar to the hydrothermal ones. This influences the processes that occur during the heating of the castables, and in consequence, the properties of the final material. The aim of the work was to evaluate the influence of the chelate compounds like citric and tartaric acids, often used in castables as dispersing agents, on the properties of the MgO–Al2O3 phase system during hydrothermal treatment. The performed tests included an XRD analysis, a thermal analysis (TG–DSC–EGA), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and an SEM–EDS analysis. Based on the obtained results, it was found that even small amounts of chelate compounds have a strong impact on the processes under hydrothermal conditions which results in changes in the phase composition of the materials.

Medieval Pb (Cu-Ag) Smelting in the Colline Metallifere District (Tuscany, Italy): Slag Heterogeneity as a Tracer of Ore Provenance and Technological Process

Archaeological investigations of the Colline Metallifere district (Southern Tuscany, Italy) have highlighted several Medieval sites located close to the main Cu-Pb-Fe (Ag) ore occurrences. This study is focused on the investigation of late-medieval slags from Cugnano and Montieri sites using both geochemical and mineralogical methods to understand slag heterogeneities as result of ore differences and technological processes. Matte-rich slags present in both sites (with abundant matte ± speiss and frequent relict phases) represent waste products related to primary sulphide ore smelting to obtain a raw lead bullion. The distribution of slags between the Ca-rich or Fe-rich dominant composition, and the consequent mineralogy, are tracers of the different ore–gangue association that occurred in the two sites. Silver is present only in very small matte-rich slags and ores enclosed within the mortar of the Montieri site; wastes derived from silver-rich mineral charges were probably crushed for the recovery of silver. Matte-poor slags found at Montieri represent a second smelting; raw lead bullion obtained from matte slags (both Fe- and Ca-rich) was probably re-smelted, adding silica and Al2O3-phase-rich fluxes, under more oxidizing conditions to reduce metal impurities. This second step was probably employed for Zn-rich lead ores; this process helped to segregate zinc within slags and improve the quality of the metal.

Obtaining functional gradient coatings based on Al2O3 by detonation spraying

The article deals with the phase composition and hardness of Al2O3 coatings obtained by detonation spraying. It was found that a decrease in the delay time between shots is leading to an increase in the hardness and elastic module of Al2O3 coatings. It was found based on X-ray diffraction analysis that the main reason for the increase in hardness with a decreasing in the delay time between shots is associated with increases in the volume fraction of α- Al2O3 phase. A high content of the more ductile γ-Al2O3 phase at the substrate-coating interface leads to an increase in adhesion characteristics, and a high content of the α-Al2O3 phase on the coating surface provides high hardness and wear resistance. The studies of X-ray diffraction presented that the highest phase content is achieved when the coatings are formed with a delay time between shots of 0.25 s. It was found that increase in the volume fraction of the α-Al2O3 phase is caused by the secondary recrystallization γ → α, which occurs due to the heating of particles during coating formation, i.e. due to increase in temperature above 1100 ºС in single spots of the coating when they are put each other