Effect of Weaving on Fe₃Al Layers Prepared by Arc Deposition Technique

Fe3Al combines with steel to form bimetallic metal can benefit from steel's mechanical strength and make full use of Fe3Al's excellent performance under high temperatures. However, due to the poor fluidity and wettability of liquid Fe3Al to steel, the cladding prepared by traditional linear welding is not available to industrial sector. Hence, to optimize preparation, an arc deposition procedure based on a weaving path is proposed. Fe3Al cladding was prepared on the steel with weaving and linear paths by arc deposition technology, respectively, and the characteristics of the cladding were compared in terms of formability, surface feature and microstructure. The results demonstrated that the cladding prepared by weave arc deposition had better formability, lower dilution rates and fewer defects than that by the line one. Compared with the image captured by high-speed camera, the substantial difference was attributed to the higher molten pool velocities, which led to a smaller volume of molten pool in weave process. Under this circumstance, the arc force was conducive to the spread of liquid metal, forming a relatively small contact angle (< 45 degrees). The finite element analysis revealed that the temperature distribution and thermal cycles resulted in finer grains in the weave process; furthermore, the weave process produced less residual stress, causing an increment of 153% in bonding strength between the cladding and the steel, compared to linear sample. Overall, the weave arc deposition technology is capable of molding Fe3Al layers efficiently and offers a good prospect for applications.