Electric Spark Alloying is an Effective Method of Surface Hardening of Metal Materials
摘要
The electrospark alloying (ESA) method of metal surfaces uses an electric discharge passing between electrodes within a gaseous environment. As a result of spark discharge between the anode electrode and the cathode part, the electrode material is primarily eroded, and erosion products are deposited onto the part’s surface. In the ESA process, spark discharge temperatures can reach 104 K. As a result, the conductive materials are heated and melted in the contact area within approximately 10ms. The high temperature in the discharge zone (5000–11000 °С) and its short duration (10–2000 µs) facilitate micro-metallurgical transformations on the part’s surface, enabling diffusion of material elements deep into the surface layer without significant heating. The electrodes used were VK8 hard alloy, titanium-chromium diboride (Ti, Cr)B2, NiAlCr alloy, and composite materials based on the (Ti, Cr)B2-NiAlCr system with different refractory-to-metal ratios (75:25, 50:50, 25:75% by volume). These materials and their coatings have exhibited high wear resistance in various friction conditions and modes; thus, they were proposed for use in abrasive wear conditions. The developed electrospark coatings have been tested in production. They are compatible with various ESA machines, regardless of their technical specifications, but preferably those that operate with vibrating electrode tools (vibrators). In this case, the coating thickness, surface parameters, and application efficiency are directly determined by the power of spark pulses, i.e., the generator’s energy parameters.