Complex concentrated alloy bimodal composite claddings with enhanced cavitation erosion resistance

Abstract

In this current study, we developed SiC (10 wt%) reinforced AlCoCrFeNi complex concentrated alloy composite claddings with different particle sizes (micro, nano and bimodal) on stainless steel 316L substrate using microwave irradiation. Microstructural analysis showed cellular structured claddings with intermetallic phases occupying the intercellular regions along with low porosity (<1%). The claddings were mainly composed of A2 (disordered BCC) and B2 (ordered BCC) along with Cr23C6. The bimodal (mixture of nano and micro) composite cladding showed highest hardness and fracture toughness (810 HV and ~12.2 MPa√m) followed by nano and micro composite claddings. Under cavitation erosion (distilled water) condition, bimodal cladding showed highest incubation period (IP) (~13 h) with extremely low mean depth erosion rate (MDER) (~0.089 μm/h) with 16 and 27 times lower than stainless steel 316L and WC-based coating, respectively. The cavitation erosion resistance observed for the bimodal composite cladding is among the highest demonstrated by the CCAs at present. However, under erosion-corrosion conditions, non-reinforced and micro-reinforced claddings showed higher degradation resistance with lower material removal rates than that observed for bimodal cladding. Standalone electrochemical corrosion studies also showed highest corrosion and passivation resistance for non-reinforced cladding. These results were explained on the basis of formation of Cr-depleted micro-galvanic cells due to high negative enthalpy of Cr with C dissociated from SiC particle. The detailed morphological analysis of the tested samples showed presence of tearing top surface as the primary degrading mechanism along with fracture of intermetallic phases. The results show that bimodal composite CCA cladding provides a potential surface engineering solution for improvising the serviceability of the many engineering systems.