Investigation of Laminar Plasma Remelting/Cladding Processing

Investigation of remelting and cladding processing with laminar plasma jets on several metals has been conducted looking for possible development of a new surface modification technique. The remelting tests illustrated that the new method could evidently improve the material microstructure and properties of cast iron. The cladding was done with Al2O3 ceramic powder on stainless steel. The energy dispersive spectra (EDS) analysis was used to determine the distribution of the major cladding element in the plasma-processed layers, for which the microstructure observations and hardness measurements were also performed.

Drag on an ellipsoid particle in free-molecular plasma flow

Based on the analysis of molecular gas dynamics, the drag and moment acting on an ellipsoid particle of revolution X-2/a(2) + Y-2/a(2) + Z(2)/c(2) = 1, as an example of nonspherical particles, are studied under the condition of free-molecular plasma flow with thin plasma sheaths. A nonzero moment which causes nonspherical particle self-oscillation and self-rotation around its own axis in the plasma flow-similar to the pitching moment in aerodynamics-is discovered for the first time. When the ratio of axis length c/a is unity, the moment is zero and the drag formula are reduced to the well-known results of spherical particles. The effects of the particle-plasma relative velocity, the plasma temperature, and the particle materials on the drag and moment are also investigated.

A small arc-heated plasma testing facility for thermal protection materials

Experimental research on a 150 kW arc-heated plasma testing facility was conducted. Stable plasma jets with different gas compositions, temperatures and velocities were obtained at chamber pressure between 400 Pa – 100 kPa. Stagnation ablation experiments were conducted on samples of typical super alloys used for thermal protection systems. The microstructure and hardness of alloys before and after ablation were compared.

Correlation between Discharging Property and Coatings Microstructure during Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation

The voltage-current properties during plasma electrolytic discharge were determined by measuring the current density and cell voltage as functions of processing time and then by mathematical transformation. Correlation between discharge I-V property and the coatings microstructure on aluminum alloy during plasma electrolfic oxidation was determined by comparing the voltage-current properties at different process stages with SEM results of the corresponding coatings. The results show that the uniform passive film corresponds to a I-V property with one critical voltage, and a compound of porous layer and shred ceramic particles corresponds to a I-Vproperty with two critical voltages. The growth regularity of PEO cermet coatings was also studied.

Determination of Proper Processing Conditions of Material Surface Heat Treatment Through Finite Element Method

A two-dimensional model has been developed based on the experimental results of stainless steel remelting with the laminar plasma technology to investigate the transient thermo-physical characteristics of the melt pool liquids. The influence of the temperature field, temperature gradient, solidification rate and cooling rate on the processing conditions has been investigated numerically. Not only have the appropriate processing conditions been determined according to the calculations, but also they have been predicted with a criterion established based on the concept of equivalent temperature area density (ETAD) that is actually a function of the processing parameters and material properties. The comparison between the resulting conditions shows that the ETAD method can better predict the optimum condition.

Vaporization of heated materials into discharge plasmas

The vaporization of condensed materials in contact with high-current discharge plasmas is considered. A kinetic numerical method named direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) and analytical kinetic approaches based on the bimodal distribution function approximation are employed. The solution of the kinetic layer problem depends upon the velocity at the outer boundary of the kinetic layer which varies from very small, corresponding to the high-density plasma near the evaporated surface, up to the sound speed, corresponding to evaporation into vacuum. The heavy particles density and temperature at the kinetic and hydrodynamic layer interface were obtained by the analytical method while DSMC calculation makes it possible to obtain the evolution of the particle distribution function within the kinetic layer and the layer thickness.

Structure and mechanical properties of ceramic coatings fabricated by plasma electrolytic oxidation on aluminized steel

Ceramic coatings were formed by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) on aluminized steel. Characteristics of the average anodic voltages versus treatment time were observed during the PEO process. The micrographs, compositions and mechanical properties of ceramic coatings were investigated. The results show that the anodic voltage profile for processing of aluminized steel is similar to that for processing bulk Al alloy during early PEO stages and that the thickness of ceramic coating increases approximately linearly with the Al layer consumption. Once the Al layer is completely transformed, the FeAl intermetallic layer begins to participate in the PEO process. At this point, the anodic voltage of aluminized steel descends, and the thickness of ceramic coating grows more slowly. At the same time, some micro-cracks are observed at the Al2O3/FeAl interface. The final ceramic coating mainly consists of gamma-Al2O3, mullite, and alpha-Al2O3 phases. PEO ceramic coatings have excellent elastic recovery and high load supporting performance. Nanohardness of ceramic coating reaches about 19.6 GPa. (c) 2007 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.

A new model for the floating potential of fine particles in plasma

In the plasma processing of ultrafine particles of material, the heat transfer and force are considerably affected by particle charging. In this communication a new model, including thermal electron emission and incorporating the effect of electric field near the particle surface, is developed for metallic spherical particles under the condition of a thin plasma sheath. Based on this model, the particle floating potential, and thus the heat transfer and force, can be detemined more accurately and more realistically than previously.

The induction plasma chemical reactor: Part I. Equilibrium model

A mathematical model is presented for the numerical simulation of the flow, temperature, and concentration fields in an rf plasma chemical reactor. The simulation is performed assuming chemical equilibrium. The extent of validity of this assumption is discussed. The system considered is the reaction of SiCl4 and NH3 for the production of Si3N4.

The induction plasma chemical reactor: Part II. Kinetic model

A kinetic model has been developed for the prediction of the concentration gelds in an rf plasma reactor. A sample calculation for a SiCl4/H2 system is then performed. The model considers the mixing processes along with the kinetics of seven reactions involving the decomposition of these reactants. The results obtained are compared to those assuming chemical equilibrium. The predictions indicate that an equilibrium assumption will result in lower predicted temperature fields in the reactor. Furthermore, for the chemical system considered here, while differences exist between the concentration fields obtained by the two models, the differences are not substantial.

Influences Of Precursor Constitution And Processing Speed On Microstructure And Wear Behavior During Laser Clad Composite Coatings On Gamma-Tial Intermetallic Alloy

The effects of constitution of precursor mixed powders and scan speed on microstructure and wear properties were designed and investigated during laser clad gamma/Cr7C3/TiC composite coatings on gamma-TiAl intermetallic alloy substrates with NiCr-Cr3C2 precursor mixed powders. The results indicate that both the constitution of the precursor mixed powders and the beam scan rate have remarkable influence on microstructure and attendant hardness as well as wear resistance of the formed composite coatings. The wear mechanisms of the original TiAl alloy and laser clad composite coatings were investigated. The composite coating with an optimum compromise between constitution of NiCr-Cr3C2 precursor mixed powders as well as being processed under moderate scan speed exhibits the best wear resistance under dry sliding wear test conditions. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fabrication of fused silica phase gratings with inductively coupled plasma technology

Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) technology is a new advanced version of dry-etching technology compared with the widely used method of reactive ion etching (RIE). Plasma processing of the ICP technology is complicated due to the mixed reactions among discharge physics, chemistry and surface chemistry. Extensive experiments have been done and microoptical elements have been fabricated successfully, which proved that the ICP technology is very effective in dry etching of microoptical elements. In this paper, we present the detailed fabrication of microoptical fused silica phase gratings with ICP technology. Optimized condition has been found to control the etching process of ICP technology and to improve the etching quality of microoptical elements greatly. With the optimized condition, we have fabricated lots of good gratings with different periods, depths, and duty cycles. The fabricated gratings are very useful in fields such as spectrometer, high-efficient filter in wavelength-division-multiplexing system, etc..