Robotic weld overlay coatings for erosion control. Final technical progress report, July 1992--July 1995

The erosion behavior of weld overlay coatings has been studied. Eleven weld overlay alloys were deposited on 1018 steel substrates using the plasma arc welding process and erosion tested at 400{degrees}C at 90{degrees} and 30{degrees} particle impact angles. The microstructure of each coating was characterized before erosion testing. A relative ranking of the coatings erosion resistance was developed by determining the steady state erosion rates. Ultimet, Inconel-625, and 316L SS coatings showed the best erosion resistance at both impact angles. It was found that weld overlays that exhibit good abrasion resistance did not show good erosion resistance. Erosion tests were also performed for selected wrought materials with chemical composition similar to weld overlays. Eroded surfaces of the wrought and weld alloys were examined by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Microhardness tests were performed on the eroded samples below the erosion surface to determine size of the plastically deformed region. It was found that one group of coatings experienced significant plastic deformation as a result of erosion while the other did not. It was also established that, in the steady state erosion regime, the size of the plastically deformed region is constant