In recent years, near-nano (submicron) and nanostructured materials have attracted increasingly more attention from the materials community. Nanocrystalline materials are characterized by a microstructural length or grain size of up to about 100 nm. Materials having grain size of ∼0.1 to 0.3 μm are classified as submicron materials. Nanocrystalline materials exhibit various shapes or forms, and possess unique chemical, physical or mechanical properties. When the grain size is below a critical value (∼10–20 nm), more than 50 vol.% of atoms is associated with grain boundaries or interfacial boundaries. In this respect, dislocation pile-ups cannot form, and the Hall–Petch relationship for conventional coarse-grained materials is no longer valid. Therefore, grain boundaries play a major role in the deformation of nanocrystalline materials. Nanocrystalline materials exhibit creep and super plasticity at lower temperatures than conventional micro-grained counterparts. Similarly, plastic deformation of nanocrystalline coatings is considered to be associated with grain boundary sliding assisted by grain boundary diffusion or rotation. In this review paper, current developments in fabrication, microstructure, physical and mechanical properties of nanocrystalline materials and coatings will be addressed. Particular attention is paid to the properties of transition metal nitride nanocrystalline films formed by ion beam assisted deposition process.

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Nanocrystalline materials and coatings

This article intends to summarize our actual knowledge in plasma spraying with an emphasis on the points where work is still in progress. It presents successively: the plasma torches with the resulting plasma jets and their interactions with the surrounding environment; the powder injection with the heat, momentum and mass transfers between particles and first plasma jets and then plasma plume; the particles flattening and solidification, forming splats which then layer to form the coating; the latest developments related to the production of plasma sprayed finely structured coatings.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0022-3727/37/9/R02/pdf

Understanding plasma spraying

Rapid grain growth during the early stage of sintering has been found in many nano material systems including cemented tungsten carbide WC–Co. To date, however, there have been few reported studies in the literature that deal directly with the kinetics or the mechanisms of this part of grain growth. In this work, the grain growth of nanosized WC during the early stages of sintering was studied as a function of temperature and time. The effects of other influencing factors, such as the initial grain size, cobalt content, and the grain growth inhibitor VC, were investigated. The kinetics of the grain growth process was analyzed and the evolution of the morphology of WC grains during heating-up was studied using high resolution scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the grain growth process consists of an initial stage rapid growth process which typically takes place during heat-up and the normal grain growth during isothermal holding. The initial rapid grain growth is at least partially attributed to the process of coalescence of grains via elimination common grain boundary. The preferred orientation between WC grains within the aggregates is considered a favorable condition for coalescence of grains, hence rapid grain growth. The solution–reprecipitation process is considered a mechanism of coalescence.

Grain growth during the early stage of sintering of nanosized WC–Co powder

https://www.cpp.edu/~minghengli/pdfs/Multi-scale%20Modeling%20and%20Analysis%20of%20an%20Industrial%20HVOF%20Thermal%20Spray%20Process.pdf

Multi-scale modeling and analysis of an industrial HVOF thermal spray process

Hot corrosion behavior of detonation gun sprayed Cr3C2-NiCr coatings on Ni and Fe-based superalloys in Na2SO4-60% V2O5 environment at 900 °C

A nanostructured WC-12 pct Co coating was synthesized using mechanical milling and high velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) thermal spraying. The variation of powder characteristics with milling time and the performance of the coatings were investigated using scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray, transmission electron microscope (TEM), thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), and microhardness measurements. There is no evidence that indicates the presence of an amorphous phase in the sintered WC-12 pct Co powder, and the binder phase in this powder is still crystalline Co. Mechanical milling of up to 20 hours did not lead to the formation of an amorphous phase in the sintered WC-12 pct Co powder. During the initial stages of the milling, the brittle carbide particles were first fractured into fragments and then embedded into the binder phase. This process gradually formed polycrystal nanocomposite powders of the Co binder phase and W carbide particles. The conventional cold welding and fracturing processes primarily occurred among the Co binder powders and polycrystal composite powders. The nanostructured WC-12 pct Co coatings, synthesized in the present study, consist of an amorphous matrix and carbides with an average particle diameter of 35 nm. The coating possesses an average microhardness of 1135 HV and higher resistance to indentation fracture than that of its conventional counterpart.

Synthesis of nanostructured WC-12 pct Co coating using mechanical milling and high velocity oxygen fuel thermal spraying

On the basis of the nanocrystalline Cr3C2-25 (Ni20Cr) feedstock powders produced by mechanical milling, a nanostructured coating has been synthesized using high velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) thermal spraying. The properties of the nanostructured coating were compared to those of the conventional coating of the same composition using scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and microhardness tests. The nanostructured Cr3C2-25 (Ni20Cr) coating synthesized in this study had an average carbide particle size of 24 nm. Discontinuous elongated amorphous phases were observed in the nanostructured coating. The conventional Cr3C2-25 (Ni20Cr) coatings produced using blended elemental powders exhibited an inhomogeneous microstructure. The observed homogeneity of the nanostructured coating is attributed, in part, to the microstructural improvement of the starting powder. The nanostructured Cr3C2-25 (Ni20Cr) coating yielded an average microhardness value of 1020 DPH300, which corresponds to a 20 pct increase in microhardness over that of the conventional coating. The nanostructured Cr3C2-25 (Ni20Cr) coating also exhibited a higher apparent fracture toughness relative to that of the conventional coating. The apparent mechanical property improvements in the nanostructured coating were thought to result from the uniformity of the microstructure and the high performance associated with a nanostructured structure. In addition, the mechanism that is present during the milling of a system containing nondeformable particles is discussed in light of the TEM observations.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11661-000-0290-0.pdf

Synthesis of nanostructured Cr3C2-25(Ni20Cr) coatings

The thermal stability behavior of nanostructured Cr3C2-NiCr coatings was investigated. The nanostructured Cr3C2-NiCr coatings, synthesized using mechanical milling and high-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) thermal spraying, were thermally exposed in air at 473, 673, 873, and 1073 K for 8 h. The results show that microhardness of the conventional coating increased slightly with increasing temperature, while that of the nanostructured coating drastically increased from 1020 to 1240 HV300 for the same temperature increases. Heat treatment led to increases in scratch resistance and decreases in the coefficient of friction for the nanostructured Cr3C2-NiCr coatings. A high density of Cr2O3 oxide particles with average size of 8.3 nm was found in the nanostructured coatings exposed to high temperatures, which is thought to be responsible for the observed increase in microhardness and scratch resistance and the decrease in the coefficient of friction of the nanostructured coatings.

Thermal stability of nanostructured Cr 3 C 2 -NiCr coatings

Particle melting behavior during high-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) thermal spraying was investigated using Inconel 625 powders. The powder characteristics and coating properties were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray, and microhardness studies. Results indicated that the volume fraction of unmelted particles in the coatings was dependent on the proportion of powder within a specified size range, in these experiments, 30 to 50 µm. This particle size range was primarily determined by the particle temperature, which was measured during spraying. Particle temperature significantly decreased as particle size increased. The microhardness values for the coatings containing unmelted particles were predicted by a simple rule-of-mixtures equation for the case of a low volume fraction of unmelted particles. However, for the condition of high volume fraction of unmelted particles, the measured microhardness values did not compare favorably with the calculated values, probably due to the presence of porosity, which occurred in the form of voids found among unmelted particles. The microstructure and characteristics of the feedstock powder were retained in the corresponding coating under certain spray conditions.

Michael Ice

Papers

Synthesis of nanostructured WC-12 pct Co coating using mechanical milling and high velocity oxygen fuel thermal spraying

Synthesis of nanostructured Cr3C2-25(Ni20Cr) coatings

Thermal stability of nanostructured Cr 3 C 2 -NiCr coatings

Particle melting behavior during high-velocity oxygen fuel thermal spraying

Synthesis and Processing of Nanostructured Cr3C2-NiCr Coatings using Mechanical Milling and HVOF