In this article, amorphous and nanocomposite thermally deposited steel coatings have been formed by using both plasma and high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spraying techniques. This was accomplished by developing a specialized iron-based composition with a low critical cooling rate (Ϸ10 4 K/s) for metallic glass formation, processing the alloy by inert gas atomization to form micron-sized amorphous spherical powders, and then spraying the classified powder to form coatings. A primarily amorphous structure was formed in the as-sprayed coatings, independent of coating thickness. After a heat treatment above the crystallization temperature (568 ЊC), the structure of the coatings self-assembled (i.e., devitrified) into a multiphase nanocomposite microstructure with 75 to 125 nm grains containing a distribution of 20 nm second-phase grain-boundary precipitates. Vickers microhardness testing revealed that the amorphous coatings were very hard (10.2 to 10.7 GPa), with further increases in hardness after devitrification (11.4 to 12.8 GPa). The wear characteristics of the amorphous and nanocomposite coatings were determined using both two-body pin-on-disk and three-body rubber wheel wet-slurry sand tests. The results indicate that the amorphous and nanocomposite steel coatings are candidates for a wide variety of wear-resistant applications.
This report describes the experimental demonstration of a process for the direct thermal conversion of methane to acetylene. The process utilizes a thermal plasma heat source to dissociate methane. The dissociation products react to form a mixture of acetylene and hydrogen. The use of a supersonic expansion of the hot gas is investigated as a method of rapidly cooling (quenching) the product stream to prevent further reaction or thermal decomposition of the acetylene which can lower the overall efficiency of the process.
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