SintClad: A New Approach for the Production of Wear-Resistant Tools

Tools used in the mineral processing industry are required to feature high wear resistance to facilitate an adequate cost efficiency. These kinds of tools are made of composite materials based on a low-alloyed substrate material and a high-alloyed coating. The coatings can be applied in different ways using production processes like HIP cladding, deposit welding, and composite casting. The article is concerned with the problem of a novel and cost-effective coating alternative: sinter cladding, using the principle of super-solidus liquid-phase sintering (SLPS). Usually SLPS represents a sintering technique, which is used for the compaction of high-alloyed metal powders. However, no recognizable efforts were made to use the SLPS-process for applying a PM-coating on a bulk substrate material. Sinter cladding for the first time uses SLPS to combine the process of powder compaction with the application of a coating to a solid steel substrate into one single step. Another advantage of the process is the possibility to produce massive bulk coatings with thicknesses exceeding 20 mm. This article is original in the scope of question and investigation methods in terms of microstructure, hardness profiles, EDX measurements, diffusion calculations, and computational thermodynamics.