IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF RESTORATION AND HARDENING OF THE WORKING BODIES OF TILLAGE MACHINES BY PLASMA-POWDER SURFACING OF CARBIDE ELECTROEROSIVE MATERIALS

Abstract

The use of powders obtained from solid alloy waste as a highly solid dispersed component of the composition for plasma-powder surfacing will improve the quality, reliability and durability of plasma coatings of working bodies of tillage machines with a minimum of costs for powder materials. However, the properties of these plasma coatings have not been studied enough, so it is necessary to conduct comprehensive studies. (Research purpose) The research purpose is improving the technology of restoration and hardening of the working bodies of tillage machines by plasma-powder surfacing of powder materials obtained by electroerosive dispersion of solid alloy waste T30K4. (Materials and methods) Carbide powders made by electrodispersing solid alloy waste T30K4 in kerosene were used to obtain plasma coatings. We chose for the renovation object a pointed cultivator paw made of 40XC rolled steel. The obtained plasma coatings were studied using modern equipment and complementary methods of physical materials science. (Results and discussion) We have developed, tested and investigated a new technology for restoring and strengthening the working bodies of tillage machines using the example of a pointed cultivator paw by plasma-powder surfacing of carbide electroerosive powder materials. The effectiveness of the development was confirmed by the properties of plasma coatings: the microstructure of the coating has a fine-grained structure, without inclusions, uniform phase distribution and the absence of pores, cracks and discontinuities; elements W, Ti and Co in the coating are evenly distributed; phases of carbides WC and TiC are present; the grain size of the coatings is about 0.3 micrometers; the microhardness of the coatings is about 14245 megapascals. (Conclusions) The results of field tests showed that the resource of the working bodies of tillage machines, restored and strengthened with carbide electroerosion materials, is 1.25 times higher than the resource of new parts.