Microstructural characteristics of directionally solidified René 80 superalloy are investigated with optical microscope and scanning electron microscope; solidification velocity is found to change from 25 to 200 μm/s under the condition of constant thermal gradient (G) and constant alloy composition (Co). Based on differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurement, γ phase (1,322 oC), MC carbide (1,278 oC), γ/γ' eutectic phase (1,202 oC), and γ' precipitate (1,136 oC) are formed sequentially during cooling process. The size of the MC carbide and γ/γ' eutectic phases gradually decrease with increasing solidification velocity, whereas the area fractions of MC carbide and γ/γ' eutectic phase are nearly constant as a function of solidification velocity. It is estimated that the area fractions of MC carbide and γ/γ' eutectic phase are determined not by the solidification velocity but by the alloy composition. Microstructural characteristics of René 80 superalloy after solid solution heat-treatment and primary aging heat-treatment are such that the size and the area fraction of γ' precipitate are nearly constant with solidification velocity and the area fraction of γ/γ' eutectic phase decreases from 1.7 % to 0.955 %, which is also constant regardless of the solidification velocity. However, the size of carbide solely decreases with increasing solidification velocity, which influences the tensile properties at room temperature.

The microstructure, hardness, and wear behaviors of a High Velocity Oxygen Fuel(HVOF) sprayed WC-CoFe coating are comparatively investigated before and after laser heat treatments of the coating surface. During the spraying, the binder metal is melted and a small portion of WC is decomposed to W2C. A porous coating is formed by evolution of carbon oxide gases formed by the reaction of the free carbon and the sprayed oxygen gas. The laser heat treatment eliminates the porosity and provides a more densified microstructure. After laser heat treatment, the porosity in the coating layer decreases from 1.7% to 1.2 and the coating thickness decreases from 150 μm to 100 μm. The surface hardness increases from 1440 Hv to 1117 Hv. In the wear test, the friction coefficient of coating decreases from 0.45 to 0.32 and the wear resistance is improved by the laser heat treatment. The improvement is likely due to the formation of oxide tribofilms.

WC-CrC-Ni coatings were prepared by nine processes of the Taguchi program with three levels for the four spray parameters: spray distance, flow rates of hydrogen and oxygen, and powder feed rate. The optimal coating process (OCP) was oxygen flow rate of 38 FMR, hydrogen flow rate of 53 FMR, powder feed rate of 25 g/min, and spray distance of 7 inches. Hardness of 1150 Hv and porosity of 1.2 %, were obtained by OCP; these are better results compared with the highest 1033 Hv and the lowest 1.5% porosity obtained by nine processes of the Taguchi program. Friction coefficient of the WC-CrC-Ni coating decreased from 0.36 ± 0.07 at 25 oC to 0.23 ± 0.07 at 450 oC. These values were smaller than those of the EHC (electrolytic hard chrome) plating at both temperatures due to lubrication from the oxide debris. The wear trace and wear depth of the coating are smaller than those of the EHC at both temperatures. Pitting was not found in the WC-CrC-Ni coating sample, while it did appear in the EHC sample.

The effects of coating parameters were investigated in wear resistance coatings of Diamalloy-406 on Inconel 718 to obtain an optimum coating condition by high velocity oxy-fuel spraying. The coating parameters, the flow rates of source gases (hydrogen and oxygen), the powder feed rate, and the spray distance, were designed by the Taguchi method. The optimal conditions were determined: oxygen flow rate 34 FRM, hydrogen flow rate 57 FRM, powder feed rate 35 g/min, and spray distance 7 inch. Friction coefficients of the coating and the substrate decreased with an increasing sliding surface temperature from 25 oC to 450 oC. The friction coefficient of Diamalloy-4006 coating decreased as the sliding surface temperature increased from 0.43 ± 0.01 at 25 oC to 0.29 ± 0.01 at 450 oC. The wear trace and wear depth of the coating were smaller than the substrate at all temperatures tested. The relationship between spray parameters and wear resistance was discussed extensively, based on the measured roughness, hardness, and porosity in each coating.