Comparative Evaluation of Polyflake as Material for Repair and Reclamation Design

This paper empirically quantified polyflake deposition repair compared to alternative thermal spray techniques specifically when applied to 1045 steel shaft. Polyflake is a composite of c-glass flakes and high-performance modified resin that can substantially protect ferrous and non-ferrous surfaces. In the repair and reclamation of defective or damaged metal structures by deposition of engineering materials, thermal spray techniques using metals or ceramics are commonly favored over their counterparts due to their versatility of the type of deposition material utilized. However, a simpler and more economical approach is polyflake material deposition. In this study, a full factorial design of experiment is used to characterize the main effects of three materials and techniques used for deposition: c-glass high temperature resin polyflake, 303 stainless steel metallization, and aluminum oxide ceramic deposition repair. The experiments were used to evaluate the mechanical properties and performance of the repaired 1045 steel shafts. In addition, environmental impact assessment was conducted to evaluate the environmental performance of the three repair techniques implemented. The experimental results show that repair material and technique have significant effect on the hardness of the repaired components and their abrasion resistance properties. Upon completion of 75 hours of simulated service operation of the repaired shafts, aluminum oxide ceramic coating repair showed dominance in overall quality characteristics; however, it had highest cost demands and higher energy footprint.