Effect of pulsating disintegrating airflow on electric arc depositing

Abstract

To limit the losses in sprayed metal in the process of electric arc deposition, the disintegrating airflow is pulsated. In this work, the effect of changing the pulsation frequency was studied on the process performance, mainly, the efficiency of metal removal and rate of deposition. Additionally, the bonding strength of the resulting sprayed metal was evaluated at different pulsation frequencies. The application of air pulsations increases the productivity and efficiency of sprayed material by increasing the efficiency of material used up to 30% and enhancing the rate of deposition up to 32%, at a frequency range 70–80 Hz. Moreover, at the optimum frequency of air pulsations, the bond strength increased up to 69%, measured by Steffensen’s dowel method. The results found in this work will allow for more rational usage of the electrical arc energy and material.