Solidificação rápida e conformação por spray de ligas ferrosas amorfizáveis a partir de ferros fundidos com adição de boro e nióbio

Abstract

The amorphizable ferrous alloys and/or nanocrystalline ones have high hardness properties and wear resistance which are important technologically. Rapid solidification process with cooling rate between 102 - 106 K/s leads to high hardness properties and wear resistance. The objective of this work is the study and the characterization of microstructure and hardness of white cast iron and nodular gray by rapid solidification, exploring techniques that impose different cooling rates, with different additions of Boron and addition or not of Niobium. The alloys were processed by Discovery® Plasma and melt-spinning, namely: (Fe65Cr17Mo2C14Si2)100-xBx (Fe65Cr17Mo2C14Si2)88B8Nb4 and (Fe75Nb6C10Si4)100-xBx (at%). The characterization was made by X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Vickers microhardness (HV). The (Fe65Cr17Mo2C14Si2)88B8Nb4 (at%) alloy was selected to spray forming and laser cladding processes obtaining deposit and overspray powders into different particle size from 20 μm and more than 180 μm. The alloys were copper mold cast resulting in plate samples with thickness of 1.0 and 2.0 mm. The cast iron plate microhardness, without Boron and Niobium, showed around 650 HV and about 1400 HV after the addition of 12 at% of Boron. The (Fe65Cr17Mo2C14Si2)88B8Nb4 (at%) alloy has nanocrystalline microstructure after spray forming in the deposit and overspray powders and Vickers microhardness value of about 1040 HV in the deposit. For these alloys it was required high cooling rates of about 106 K/s to obtain amorphous phase by melt-spinning process. The laser cladding process used overspray powders to produce coatings with microhardness up to around 1300 HV. It was possible using power 200 W, in slower scanning travel speeds (6.7 or 10.0 mm/s). The laser cladding process presented good perspectives of application in order to produce wear abrasion and corrosion resistant coatings.