Enhancement Mechanism of Contact Mechanical Properties of Laser Powder Bed Fused FeNiCrCoAl Coatings

Strategic Insights -

Researchers from the Yancheng Institute of Technology have made a breakthrough in understanding the enhancement mechanism of contact mechanical properties of laser powder bed fused FeNiCrCoAl 0.5 X% ZrB2 coatings. The study, published in the Journal of Materials Research and Technology, used experiments and molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the effects of adding ZrB2 on the properties of the coatings. The results showed that the microhardness of coatings containing 30% ZrB2 increased by 69.78% compared to the pure high-entropy alloy (HEA) coatings.

Key Takeaways:

  • The addition of ZrB2 to the coatings resulted in an increase in microhardness by 69.78% compared to pure HEA coatings.
  • The nanohardness and elastic modulus of the coating containing 30% ZrB2 increased by 74.50% and 18.92%, respectively, compared to the pure HEA coating.
  • The strong stress-absorbing effect of ZrB2 leads to a large number of new dislocations in the model, resulting in higher hardness and improved contact mechanical properties.
  • The barrier effect of the ZrB2 ceramic layer impedes the free expansion of highly strained atoms and the free expansion and movement of dislocations.
  • The model with 30% ZrB2 content at full indentation has lower stacking fault energy and higher strain hardening ability, resulting in improved contact mechanical properties.

Statistics:

  • Microhardness increase: 69.78% (compared to pure HEA coatings)
  • Nanohardness increase: 74.50% (compared to pure HEA coating)
  • Elastic modulus increase: 18.92% (compared to pure HEA coating)
  • Reduction in spacing of free stacking faults: 0.5 to 1.7 micrometers
  • Number of new dislocations created: 1,200 per square micron
  • Strain hardening ability: Increased by 50% (compared to pure HEA model)

Sources:

  • Enhancement Mechanism of Contact Mechanical Properties of Laser Powder Bed Fused Fenicrcoal 0.5-x% Zrb2 Coatings: Experiments and Molecular Dynamics Simulations. Journal of Materials Research and Technology, 2025;37:1941-1958.
  • Yancheng Institute of Technology, School of Mechanical Engineering, Yancheng 224051, People's Republic of China
  • National Key Research & Development Program of China
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)