Effect of anode materials of the Al-Ni-Zr system on the ESA process and wear resistance of coatings on steel 45

Composite alloys of nickel aluminides doped with zirconium were obtained from nickel oxide NiO and baddeleyite concentrate containing zirconium by the method of out-of-furnace alumothermal reduction. The multiphase structure of the ingot obtained by SHS metallurgy has been established by scanning electron microscopy and micro X-ray spectral analysis. With an increase of zirconium content in the alloy up to 3.52 wt.% the amount and variety of nickel aluminide phases doped with zirconium linearly increase. The influence of aluminum-matrix electrode alloys from Al-Ni-Zr on the ESA process and wear resistance of the coatings on steel 45 under various processing modes t_sk/t_p= 40/50 and 25/80 in the argon atmosphere and in air has been established and scientifically substantiated: The erosion resistance of the anode materials made of Al-Ni-Zr alloys does not change monotonously while changing the zirconium content in the argon atmosphere. The minimum erosion resistance of the anode alloy is observed at 1.05 wt.% Zr, and the maximum - at 3.52 wt.% Zr. The fact that erosion resistance of the anode materials in argon is lower than in air concerns all the Al-Ni-Zr alloys investigated and in all ESA treatment modes, except the anode material with 3.52 wt.% Zr; In all the cases, the greatest weight gain value at the formation of an alloyed coating during ESA (t = 10 μs) is observed when using the anode material with 1.05 wt.% Zr, which is characterized by low erosion resistance, and the smallest weight gain value - with 0.47 wt.% Zr with higher erosion resistance; the highest wear resistance is observed when the anode material contains 1.52 wt.% Zr at ESA in argon (it increases 2.8 times when compared to steel 45).