Alloy Design for AM: A Ferritic Alloy for Applications in Corrosive Alkaline Environment

Abstract

Alloy design allows to define specific compositions of materials having certain technological requirements as boundary conditions. Moreover increasing interest raised in the last decades on materials for Additive Manufacturing (AM). These new technologies consider a new approach, i.e. bottom up, for component manufacturing and suitable materials in different forms, generally liquid or solid (powders, filaments). One of the most interesting advantages of AM is the potentiality of realizing components with complex geometries and in a single or in few pieces to be assembled. For this reason, in this work a ferritic allow has been designed with the scope of realizing heat exchangers for highly corrosive alkaline environments. Water-ammonia solution are in-fact used in absorption machines for refrigeration and several heat exchangers are required for its thermodynamic cycle. After defining a specific composition, also on the base of thermodynamic simulations, the alloy has been produced by Vacuum Induction Melting (VIM). After suitable thermal treatments microstructural, mechanical and thermal characterizations have been carried out.