Stainless steel, a type of steel used for high-temperature parts, may cause damage when exposed to high temperatures, requiring additional coatings. In particular, the Cr2O3 product layer is unstable at 1000°C and higher temperatures; therefore, it is necessary to improve the oxidation resistance. In this study, an aluminide (Fe2Al5 and FeAl3) coating layer was formed on the surface of STS 630 specimens through Al diffusion coatings from 500°C to 700°C for up to 25 h. Because the coating layers of Fe2Al5 and FeAl3 could not withstand temperatures above 1200°C, an Al2O3 coating layer is deposited on the surface through static oxidation treatment at 500°C for 10 h. To confirm the ablation resistance of the resulting coating layer, dynamic flame exposure tests were conducted at 1350°C for 5–15 min. Excellent oxidation resistance is observed in the coated base material beneath the aluminide layer. The conditions of the flame tests and coating are discussed in terms of microstructural variations.
Citations
Powder quality, including high flowability and spherical shape, determines the properties of additively manufactured products. Therefore, the cheap production of high-quality powders is critical in additive manufacturing. Radio frequency plasma treatment is an effective method to fabricate spherical powders by melting the surface of irregularly shaped powders; in the present work, mechanically milled Zr powders are spheroidized by radio frequency plasma treatment and their properties are compared with those of commercial Zircaloy-2 alloy powder. Spherical Zr particles are successfully fabricated by plasma treatment, although their flowability and impurity contents are poorer than those of the commercial Zircaloy-2 alloy powder. This result shows that radio-frequency plasma treatment with mechanically milled powders requires further research and development for manufacturing low-cost powders for additive manufacturing.