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Corrosion behavior of 304 stainless steel exposed to a NaCl (3.5 wt %) solution saturated with CO2 has been analyzed using electrochemical techniques including, potentiodynamic polarization, polarization resistance, and electrochemical impedance measurements. The stainless steel samples were evaluated having different surface and pre-oxidation treatments. The oxide scales formed on 304 stainless steel oxidized in different pO2 at 1100°C have also been studied and compared. Different morphologies and chemical composition of the oxide scales were observed after oxidation at low and high oxygen partial pressures. Oxide layers with high chromium content were formed on the ground sample pre-oxidized in Ar while iron-rich oxides were mainly formed under air atmosphere. The electrochemical corrosion results indicate that non-oxidized 304 SS exhibits the best corrosion performance followed by the ground sample heat-treated in argon. For the oxidized stainless steels, the differences in the electrochemical responses are associated to the morphological characteristics and composition of the oxide layer. Homogeneous and dense Cr-rich oxide scale provides protection to 304 SS during exposure to CO2-saturated solutions while the formation of Fe-oxides with porous morphology increases the corrosion rate of 304 stainless steel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low-temperature electrochemical behavior of HVOF Ni-20Cr coatings was assessed. The coatings were evaluated in different conditions including as-sprayed, as-ground, and heat-treated in air and argon atmospheres. A detailed analysis of the coatings was carried out by means of XRD, SEM, and EPMA, prior and after the corrosion test. The corrosion rate was analyzed in a NaCl solution saturated with CO. Results demonstrate that the use of a low-oxygen partial pressure favors the formation of a CrO layer on the surface of the coatings. According to the electrochemical results, the lower corrosion rates were obtained for the heat-treated coatings irrespective of the surface finishing, being the ground and argon heat-treated condition that shows the best corrosion performance. This behavior is due to the synergistic effect of the low-pressure heat treatment and the grinding processes. The grinding promotes a more homogeneous reaction area without surface heterogeneities such as voids, and the pre-oxidation treatment decreases the porosity content of the coating and also allows the growing of a Cr-rich oxide scale which acts as a barrier against the ions of the aqueous solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the deposition of LaZrO (LZO) and LaAlO (LAO) mixtures by air plasma spray (APS). The raw material for thermal spray, single phase LZO and LAO in a 70:30 mol.% ratio mixture was prepared from commercial metallic oxides by high-energy ball milling (HEBM) and high-temperature solid-state reaction. The HEBM synthesis route, followed by a spray-drying process, successfully produced spherical agglomerates with adequate size distribution and powder-flow properties for feeding an APS system. The as-sprayed coating consisted mainly of a crystalline LZO matrix and partially crystalline LAO, which resulted from the high cooling rate experienced by the molten particles as they impact the substrate. The coatings were annealed at 1100 °C to promote recrystallization of the LAO phase. The reduced elastic modulus and hardness, measured by nanoindentation, increased from 124.1 to 174.7 GPa and from 11.3 to 14.4 GPa, respectively, after the annealing treatment. These values are higher than those reported for YSZ coatings; however, the fracture toughness ( K ) of the annealed coating was only 1.04 MPa m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of pre-oxidation treatment and surface preparation of optimized NiCoCrAlY coatings deposited by high-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) spraying and exposed to a low-temperature corrosive environment is reported herein. Coatings with two surface finish conditions (as-sprayed and ground) were heat treated under two different oxygen partial pressures (air and argon). The electrochemical corrosion behavior was evaluated in CO-saturated brine via potentiodynamic polarization, polarization resistance, and electrochemical impedance measurements. The results show that the grinding process and pre-oxidation treatment in argon enhanced growth and formation of α-AlO scale. The potentiodynamic polarization results show that both pre-oxidation and surface treatment had a positive influence on the corrosion resistance of the coating. The reduction of the porosity and the formation of a dense, uniform, and adherent oxide scale through pre-oxidation treatment led to an increase of the corrosion resistance due to a decrease in active sites and blocking of diffusion of reactive species into the coating. However, according to the results, complete transformation from metastable alumina phases to α-AlO in addition to formation and growth of dense α-AlO is required to ensure full protection of the coating and base material over long periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of three principal, independent, high-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF)-processing parameters on the properties of NiCoCrAlY coatings deposited using commercial powders is reported here. The design of experiments (DoE) technique at a two-level factorial and a central composite rotatable design was used to analyze and optimize the HVOF spraying process. The deposition parameters investigated were (1) fuel flow, (2) oxygen flow, and (3) stand-off distance. The effect of these processing variables was evaluated using selected responses, including porosity and oxide content, residual stresses, and deposition efficiency. Coatings with low porosity as well as with low residual stress were obtained using high fuel-rich conditions at a stand-off distance between 250 and 300 mm. At shorter and longer stand-off distances, respectively, either excessive flattening of splats or un-molten condition occurred, resulting in high levels of porosity and residual stress. The response surface, the empirical relationships among the variables, and the response parameters allowed the selection of optimum deposition parameters and the improvement of coating properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, thin films deposited by pulsed DC magnetron sputtering of [Ti-Al/Ti-Al-N] and [Ti-Cr/Ti-Cr-N] multilayers of nanometric periods were analyzed by AFM in contact mode to measure values of lateral and normal forces. From these measurements, the coefficient of friction (COF) of these materials in contact with the AFM tip was calculated. Measurements were made with three types of silicon tips, diamond-coated, Pt-Cr-coated, and bare silicon. Significant differences between the tip materials in contact with the samples, which affected the COF, were observed. The effect of the environmental layer of water covering the surface sample and the tip appears as the most important factor affecting the tribology behavior of the tip-sample contact. For diamond-coated and bare silicon tips there is an additional adherence force increasing the normal load. But for tips platinum-chromium-coated there is a repulsive force due to this water layer, which behaves as a lubricant layer before a threshold load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural evolution during the synthesis of B2-NiAl intermetallic compound by mechanical alloying of equiatomic elemental mixtures was studied by Rietveld analysis, DSC and HTXRD. The lattice parameter, crystallite size, microstrain, amount of phase and ordering of the B2 phase were monitored as a function of milling time. Formation of the B2-NiAl phase shows a sigmoidal behavior, which suggests that Johnson-Mehl-Avrami nucleation and interface-controlled growth are the responsible mechanisms in the transformation. Almost complete transformation (~ 97 mol%) was obtained after 25 h of milling. A specific phase transformation sequence during milling was not absolutely determined, however, the sequence Ni + Al → NiAl → NiAl → B2-NiAl was identified by HTXRD. This sequence was confirmed by DSC. The transformation temperature of the B2-NiAl phase and the presence of additional intermetallic compounds show a direct dependence on the Ni-Al layer spacing. Using a production-scale Simoloyer horizontal Attritor Mill, the presence of NiAl phase was observed prior to the full synthesis of B2-NiAl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]