Project Summary
Even though the benefits of light alloys are well understood, they are still utilised in a limited number of industrial applications due to their poor performance against wear and corrosion. In this project, advanced coatings produced by thermal spraying (TS) will be investigated for protection of light alloys. Although TS coatings provide immense versatility in application-dependent choice of coating chemistry, higher deposition rates and ease of deposition in a sustainable manner as compared to other coating methods used today, they have not been well explored earlier on light alloys. Three specific TS techniques – conventional high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spraying, high-throughput arc spraying, and emergent high velocity air fuel (HVAF) spraying will be used to produce WC-based and Fe-based coatings in this project. Apart from establishing process-coating material-performance correlations for these techniques, a case study will be performed on coated aluminium alloy in heavy fan blades used in various industrial processes.
Project Consortium
The partner constellation in this project consists of an academic institute – University West (UW), two Swedish SMEs, one a TS service provider – Thermal Spraying & Engineering AB (TSE), and other an OEM of products within grain handling, solid biofuel, motors, and heavy fan solutions – AB Akronmaskiner (Akron), and a global manufacturer of agricultural and other heavy machinery – John Deere (Deere). National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB (NEVS) in the automotive sector has also shown interest in this project’s activities and results. The constellation is therefore an ideal platform for nurturing knowledge development by engaging SMEs as well as actors from different industrial sectors, both national as well as international.
