Effect of the Physicochemical Properties of Refractory Compounds and Hard Alloys on Their Erosion in Electric Spark Alloying

This paper presents the results of a multiyear study of the dependence of the erosion of the anode in electric spark alloying (ESA) on the physicochemical properties of its material. This work has been performed using various devices, with different electric modes, using manual or mechanized treatment, and in various media. This article contains generalized data on the anode erosion of refractory compounds and hard alloys. It is shown that the refractory compounds’ erosion occurs at a substantial solid phase participation, whereas the correlation of the erosion value with thermo-physical properties for them is absent. Erosion resistance and the coefficient of the transfer of hard alloys at the ESA initial stage of treatment are both significantly larger than those of a relevant refractory compound, and they increase with the addition of bundle content to the alloy. The law of the additive property of erosion and its dependence on the content of the plastic bundle is not applicable to hard alloys. Porosity enhancements increase the erosion of the anode material.