14 Surface cladding and hardfacing methods

14.1 Introduction
The application of stainless material to a lower alloy steel (known as cladding) is an
economic method of producing reactor pressure vessels or pressure vessels for such
applications as the chemical industry, where a thick-walled vessel with internal corrosion
protection is necessary. There are several different welding methods that can be used:
• Submerged arc welding using a solid wire electrode, often Twin Arc double wire, or
using a flux cored wire.
• Submerged arc welding using a broad but thin strip electrode.
• Strip electrode welding with a flux that enables the process to be carried out using the
electroslag principle, i.e. without an arc, but with the heat being generated by resist-
ance heating in the molten slag. See “Electroslag welding” on page 133.
• Plasma cladding.
• Thermal spraying: see Page 153.

The aim is to achieve a sound weld, but with little melting of the underlying material.
In this respect, the electroslag method is preferable to ordinary submerged arc welding,
as it penetrates less deeply into the substrate material and so results in less mixing of the
weld metal. Several of the ordinary submerged arc welding methods can be used, but it
may be necessary to apply two or more layers until a sufficiently pure layer of welded
metal is produced. Cladding is often performed by mechanised methods, as there are
often larger areas to be covered.
If a hard surface is required with underlying material of a higher degree of toughness,
the normal practice is to apply the hard surface layer by welding. This process is known
as hardfacing. Application of high-abrasion-resistance alloys by welding is a method of
repairing machine parts or other metallic items that are subject to abrasive wear.
Examples include rails, turbine blades, excavator bucket teeth and conveyors in the
mining industry. It is often cheaper to repair such parts than to replace them by new
ones, as it is quicker and there is no need to hold stocks of spare parts. Hardfacing can be
done either by automatic welding equipment or manually, depending on the circum-
stances and the amount of welding to be done.

14.2 Types of wear

The type of hardfacing material to be used depends entirely on the type of wear to be
protected against. There are many different wear mechanisms, although they can be
divided roughly into the following four classes for simplicity:
• Friction and adhesion
• Abrasion
• Impact and shocks
• Heat, oxidation and corrosion
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Friction and adhesion occur when two metallic surfaces roll or rub against each
other, e.g. a shaft and bearing or a cable and sheave. Even the most highly polished
surfaces have a microscopic level of unevenness, which results in wear. Particles from
both surfaces are pressed together and broken off, causing an increase in wear. The most
important factors in this respect are the finish of the surface, contact pressure and
material structure. In general, it can be said that wear particles from two surfaces having
the same alloy and hardness 'combine' more easily resulting in greater wear. It is
therefore desirable to avoid allowing two surfaces of the same material to come in
contact.
Abrasion results when small, hard mineral particles rub across a metal surface and
cut away particles from it. The harder the mineral and the sharper the edges of the
particles, the greater the amount of wear. This type of wear mechanism occurs, for
example, in dredging and in the transport of minerals. The material must be as hard as
possible to counter abrasive wear, although its microstructure and surface are also
important factors. Alloy steels containing chromium or tungsten are usually recom-
mended.
Impact and shocks occurs in, for example, crushers and excavator buckets. If this is
the main wear mechanism, it is important to use a steel that combines toughness and
ductility, which is capable of absorbing the shock by deforming instead of by cracking.
However, such wear often occurs in combination with abrasive wear, which requires a
hard surface. Chromium and tungsten alloys, mentioned above, are relatively brittle,
which, although unimportant when abrasive wear is the only mechanism, result in
cracking if the material is exposed to impact. For applications such as crushers and
hammers therefore, an alloy containing 14 % manganese is widely used, as it produces a
hard surface with a ductile interior.
Heat, oxidation and corrosion may occur in tools used for hot working processes and
for casting. These are exposed to cyclic thermal loads which eventually result in fatigue
failures. Working in an oxidising environment produces a layer of oxide on the surface,
which can then crack due to thermal expansion, thus exposing new metal for oxidation
and allowing the process to continue until the part is entirely worn away. This particular
form of wear is countered by the use of nickel and cobalt alloys, which have high
resistance to abrasive wear, corrosion and thermal fatigue.

TABLE 14.1 Cladding materials.

Application /
Type of steel Properties resists
Low alloy, low Tough Building up /
carbon friction resistance
14 % manganese Tough, work hardens Shocks and impact
Martensitic Tough and hard Shocks and abrasion
Chromium car- Hard, brittle Abrasion
bide, tungsten
carbide
Cobalt and nickel Hard at high temper- Tool steel / Corrosion,
alloys atures high temperatures

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Appropriate cladding materials and welding methods have been developed for each
of the four main classes of wear described above (see Table 14.1). However, a common
feature is that hard alloys should not be applied in more than two or three layers, as their
poor coefficients of thermal conductivity can result in the cladding cracking or sepa-
rating from the underlying material. A further common requirement is that there should
be as little mixing with the parent material as possible, in order to avoid degradation in
the properties of the cladding. For this reason, a foundation layer of less hard alloys is
often applied, with the fully hard surface layer applied on top of it.

14.3 Thermal spraying

Thermal spraying is used to apply metallic or ceramic layers to metals, for such purposes
as producing a corrosion-resistant or wear-resistant layer on low-alloy steel, for making
good material lost by wear and tear or machining error and for the application of elec-
trical or thermal insulation. Layer thicknesses vary from about 10 m up to a few mm,
sometimes even tens of mm, depending on the application.
The method is particularly important for various types of repairs. Large and
expensive shafts, blocks or rolls etc., which have been worn down outside their
permitted tolerances, can be restored to a usable condition by a modest work input.
Thermal spraying is also very suitable for use as a method of construction, where there is
a need to apply various types of corrosion-resistant or wear-resistant layers to metal
surfaces.
Thermal spraying requires an appropriate cladding material, in the form of wire or
powder to be heated to its melting point by the thermal energy in a flame or arc, with the
molten particles then being carried by a jet of gas on to the workpiece. The particle sizes
are of the order of 50–200 m.
Cladding layers applied by flame or arc contain about 5–15 % by volume of pores,
and up to 5–15 % of oxides. The porosity and oxide contents of layers applied by high-
velocity flame spraying and (in particular) plasma spraying are lower. The strength of the
cladding depends on its material analysis, pretreatment of the workpiece and the
spraying method used. When spraying steel, the strength is low in the spray direction
(20–80 N/mm²), but higher in the longitudinal direction (80–150 N/mm²).
Spraying is carried out using a flame spraying gun of a size that can be handled
manually. Nevertheless, it is often mounted on a support, with the workpiece arranged to
rotate or travel in front of it. This is essential when thin, uniform layers are to be applied.
Pretreatment of the workpiece can involve degreasing and roughening of the surface
by blasting, rough turning or grinding. The aim is to achieve a matt surface with an
appropriate key. Turning creates a corrugated surface, thus increasing the surface area
and improving the adhesion of correctly applied cladding. A bonding layer of special
material is often applied before the final top layer. The bonding layer should be thin and
even, but with good coverage.
Arc spraying, high-velocity flame spraying and plasma spraying all produce very
high noise levels, which means that operators must wear hearing protection, and that the
use of acoustically insulated working areas is recommended. The use of a spray booth
with extraction ventilation to deal with smoke, gases and surplus powder is also
advisable.
The most important methods of thermal spraying are:
• flame spraying,
• high-velocity flame spraying,

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• arc spraying,
• plasma spraying,
• detonation spraying.
Each has a somewhat different application area, depending on the type of material,
cost and performance. All can be used for spraying metallic materials, but not all are
suitable for spraying non-metallic materials.

Flame spraying
The heat source for flame spraying is a flame, produced (as for gas welding) by combus-
tion of acetylene or propane in oxygen. The cladding material, in wire or powder form,
is fed continuously into the flame, where it melts, and the molten particles are then
blown on to the workpiece by a jet of compressed air as shown in Figure 14.1.

Figure 14.1 Schematic diagram of flame spraying with wire.

Figure 14.2 Schematic diagram of high-velocity flame spraying.

High-velocity flame spraying

High velocity flame spraying is often also referred to as HVOF spraying (high velocity
oxy-fuel spraying). The method, which has developed rapidly in recent years, produces
a high velocity of the molten particles, giving a very strong, dense layer, with less than
1 % porosity and low oxide inclusion.

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Fuel gases may be paraffin, LPG or hydrogen, burnt with oxygen at high pressure in
a combustion chamber. Temperatures of 2700–3100 °C are reached, depending on the
fuel gas. The gas leaving the combustion chamber is accelerated to supersonic velocity
(1500–2000 m/s) in an appropriately shaped nozzle. The high velocity produces charac-
teristic shock waves in the flame, which are visible as a diamond pattern (see Figure
14.2). The gun is often water-cooled. The cladding material is generally applied in
powder form which is fed into the nozzle by an inert gas as shown in the schematic
diagram in Figure 14.2.

Arc spraying
This method uses an electric arc as the heat source which is struck between the tips of
two sacrificial electrodes made of the cladding material. The electrodes are fed continu-
ously into the arc, where they melt, and from where the molten particles are blown onto
the workpiece by a jet of compressed air or gas as shown in Figure 14.3. The cladding
material is always a metal, as it must be electrically conductive. Different materials can
be used in the two electrodes, to produce a cladding which is a mixture of both.

Figure 14.3 Schematic diagram of arc spraying.

Arc spraying generally produces the best adhesion to the workpiece and also offers
the lowest production costs, apart from the spraying of zinc-rich materials. However,
some alloying constituents, particularly carbon may be vaporised, which complicates the
spraying of high-carbon cladding materials.

Plasma spraying
Plasma spraying often uses an arc as the heat source, which is struck between two non-
sacrificial electrodes. A flow of gas past the arc blows the arc plasma out through a
nozzle. At 10 000–20 000 °C, the plasma temperatures are higher than the temperatures
used in other spray methods. Gases commonly used are H2, N2, Ar or He.
The cladding material is supplied in the form of wire, bare or powder, and fed into the
arc, where it melts and is conveyed to the workpiece by the plasma jet as illustrated in
Figure 14.4. Powder is the most commonly used material. The high temperature of the
plasma enables ceramics and metal oxides with high melting temperatures to be sprayed.
The equipment is more expensive to buy and run than that used in the methods described
above, so plasma spraying is less often used for spraying simpler materials with a lower

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oxidation sensitivity. Its main application is the spraying of non-metallic materials as

cladding for metallic materials with electrically insulating layers.

Figure 14.4 Schematic diagram of plasma spraying.

For optimum process control, plasma spraying can also be carried out in a vacuum
chamber or a chamber with a suitably controlled atmosphere.

Detonation spraying
Detonation spraying involves the use of a gun resembling a large water-cooled rifle
barrel, which is loaded with a mixture of acetylene and oxygen, the cladding material
being in powder form. A spark plug ignites the mixture, and the flame front melts the
powder driving it onto the workpiece at a velocity even higher than that of HVOF. This
is repeated at a cycle rate of about 5 Hz, producing a very dense layer with good adhe-
sion.

14.4 References and further reading

H. Dong, Surface engineering of light alloys, Woodhead Publishing Limited, 2010
B. Mellor, Surface coatings for protection against wear, Woodhead Publishing Limited,
2006
TWI, Surfacing, Woodhead Publishing Limited, 2000

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