Wear 254 (2003) 652667

HVOF coating and surface treatment for enhancing droplet erosion resistance of steam turbine blades
B.S. Mann , Vivek Arya
Surface Coatings and Treatment Laboratory, BHEL, Corporate R&D Division, Vikasnagar, Hyderabad 500093, India Received 14 May 2002; received in revised form 16 January 2003; accepted 16 January 2003

Abstract This paper describes the water droplet erosion characteristics of high velocity oxygen fuel sprayed (HVOF) coated and laser hardened 12Cr steels along with steels and titanium alloys used in steam turbine blades at two different energy uxes. For droplet erosion study, round samples as per ASTM G73-98 were used. At low energy ux, the HVOF coated 12Cr steel performed much better than 12Cr and 13Cr4Ni steels. This is due to integrity of hard carbide particles in cobalt chrome matrix and its ability to absorb shocks due to high hardness of the carbide particles. During incubation as well as in the long run, laser hardened 12Cr steel performed exceptionally well followed by 17Cr4Ni PH and heat-treated 12Cr steel. From the experimental study, it appears that ultimate and modied resilience of materials play signicant role to combat droplet erosion. Droplet erosion test results of all these materials and HVOF coating along with their properties and scanning electron micrographs are reported and discussed in this paper. 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Steam turbine; Droplet erosion; HVOF coating; Laser hardening

1. Introduction Water droplet erosion is a well-known phenomenon occurring on the moving blades operating at the low-pressure (LP) end of steam turbines. This is initiated by small, primary droplet condensate in bulk of the supercooled steam in the ow, get separated on the blade surface and generate secondary large droplets, which cause erosion [18]. Relatively large drops 50800 m diameter are consistently produced and accelerated and strike on the convex side of the moving blades. The water drops greater than 200 m and a terminal velocity of more than 250 m/s are responsible for quick erosion [4,5,8,9]. Material loss from the leading edges is the result of commutative damage from the impact of water droplets. The impact of large droplets 800 m at 300 m/s generates high local forces. Higher velocity water droplet impact can produce serious erosion problems to high-speed military aircraft and missiles as well. Numerous means of combating droplet erosion are available in the literature [627]. The damage produced by one or more of these loading conditions on a material surface exposed to single or multiple water drop impact is responsible for initiating damage and subsequent material removal. The evaluation of
Corresponding author. Fax: +91-40-23776320. E-mail address: balbir@bhelrnd.co.in (B.S. Mann).

damage produced in target material due to single water drop loading cycle is a complex dynamic process, which involves a number of closely phased actions. The damage mechanism is covered in reference [1215]. Several important properties of materials such as material being cast, forged, rolled, annealed or in heat-treated condition including hard protective layers/coatings play an important role to combat impingement erosion. Among all these, the hardness of material/protective layer or coating plays a signicant role [27]. Corrosion-related failures of LP blades account for one-third of the total number of blade failures in the low-pressure turbine. These are the main cause of forced outages of the steam turbine [16]. Corrosion fatigue along with pitting is considered to be the most common single factor. The formation of pits due to droplet erosion at a critical location on a turbine blade can act to aggravate cracking in two ways: as a stress concentration causing the blade to experience high stresses (both static and cyclic) and as a stagnant corrosion cell where the environment at the base of the pit can change concentration as the corrosion proceeds. The latter situation can lead to a lower pH, more acidic environment known to be deleterious to the corrosion fatigue life of conventional blading alloys. The corrosion erosion characteristics in 3.5% NaCl solution at 23 C of laser hardened steel were studied. This is conrmed by the pitting potential measurements of the specimens. The

0043-1648/03/$ see front matter 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0043-1648(03)00253-9

B.S. Mann, V. Arya / Wear 254 (2003) 652667 Table 1 Room temperature tensile properties of LP turbine blading alloys [16] Materials 12% Cr steel (UNS S403) 17Cr4Ni PH steel (UNS S174) Titanium alloy Ti6Al4V Tensile strength (MPa) 759786 952972 1095 Yield strength (MPa) 645672 656712 1013 Elongation (%) 20.020.5 19.620.7 12.0 RA (%) 63.367.1 67.468.5 34.5

653

Fracture toughness (MPa m2 ) 180 170 67

Table 2 20 kHz 109 cycle fatigue strength in corrosive media [16] Materials 12 Cr steel 17Cr4Ni PH steel Ti6Al4V Fatigue strength (MPa) (a) 390 430 470 Fatigue strength (MPa) (b) 100 180 290

Test conditions: (a) triple deionised water, 30 C, pH 7, <7 ppb O2 ; (b) 22% NaCl, 80 C, pH 4, <20 ppb O2 .

improvement in pitting corrosion resistance resulted from the dissolution or renement of carbide particles and the presence of retained austenite, as evidenced by the fact that the pitting potential increased linearly with the amount of retained austenite. Typical blade alloys considered for LP turbine are listed in Table 1. The LP turbine blades are martensitic stainless steels. The austenitic and ferritic steels are not considered suitable for LP turbine blades on the grounds of susceptibility to cracking and lack of strength. For design purposes, the yield strength is the most important factor for assessing static strength. Ductility is also an important criterion along with static strength to accommodate localized stress peaks and stress concentrations. When wet steam becomes impure, the fatigue strengths and residual stress state of blade materials are affected very largely [29]. Under resonant conditions, blade deections and consequent stresses become very high so that it may fail due to mechanical fatigue. Therefore, the alloys should have adequate fatigue strength in the operating environment. The fatigue strength of various LP blade alloys is shown in Tables 2 and 3. To combat these damages the surface modication of the components is very effective and attractive since it does not affect the bulk properties of the substrate. Titanium blades are also in use since long. The droplet erosion studies on Ti6Al4V alloy revealed that the erosion resistance of this alloy is comparable to the erosion resistance of 12Cr steel, however slightly inferior to ame
Table 3 Fatigue Strength, 107 cycles at 100 Hz [16] Materials 12Cr steel 17Cr4Ni PH steel Ti6Al4V 22% NaCl, 80 C, pH 4, <20 ppb O2 . Fatigue strength (MPa) 100 350 400

hardened 12Cr steel in the velocities range 300500 m/s and droplet size 0.100.80 mm [30]. Some information on cavitation erosion resistance of laser hardened steel is available [28,29]. However, not much information on the droplet erosion resistance of laser hardening of steel is available. Droplet erosion studies on laser nitrided Ti6Al4V alloy have also been reported [30,31]. An improvement of the order of 350400% was observed on laser nitrided Ti6Al4V alloy. Tests conducted by Brown and Westinghouse have shown that the steam moisture content and peripheral velocity limitations imposed on 12Cr steel (type 403 steel) blades can be considerably extended with Ti6Al4V blades as well. A slight amount of erosion of titanium as well as 12Cr steel blades after an operation of 4 years was observed whereas stellited steel blades were unaffected. Stelliting is generally not used because of thermal expansion mismatch between the two alloys. In addition to steady loads from rotation and steam ow, blades are subjected to vibratory excitations as well. Vibratory stresses result from the vibration of untuned modes, which are excited by circumferential non-uniformity in the steam ow, which are difcult to be assessed. In this paper, the results on our recent experimental ndings on droplet erosion resistance of high velocity oxygen fuel sprayed (HVOF) coating and laser hardened 12Cr steel along with steam turbine blading materials such as titanium Ti6Al4V alloy, 12Cr steel (AISI 403 and 410 type), 17Cr4Ni PH steels in as received (AS) and in hardened condition (HT) and 13Cr4Ni steel in as received (AS) condition are reported.

2. Erosion prediction model For erosion prediction Haymann proposed the following equation [7] UeM = Ua 1 Na V0 2550
5

This equation gives maximum instantaneous value of the material volume loss per unit area per unit time. The equation is based upon the experimental data. The droplet structure was assumed homogenous and the angle of attack was about 90 . This equation could not be applied directly on turbine blade, where every blade element is being hit by a relatively broad spectrum of droplet sizes. Moreover, every droplet

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group dened by a given droplet radius r hits the surface of the blade element at a different angle of attack. This equation is further modied by Krzyzanowski and Szperngiel [8], which takes care of all these points.
r ()

UeM() =
r =r,min

sin b1 ()

M (r , ) d R1

wN (r , ) 2550

where UeM() represents material volume loss per unit area per unit time; Ua or M (r , )/ d R1 represents mass ux; V0 or wN (r , ) represents velocity component; b1 () represents impingement angle; (r , ) represents droplet size; Na represents normalization with respect to 18-8 stainless steel. In the present study, the theoretical prediction for erosion damage estimation has not been done. However, all the parameters such as energy ux, mass ux, impingement angle, droplet size and velocity were considered while doing the experiment. Their values are given in Table 5.

hesion of coatings is directly related to the roughness of the surface and it is controlled by the type of grit blasting machine, blasting pressure, angle, distance, time and grit blasting nozzle (orice size) [38]. The round specimens of size 12.7 40 mm long were degreased by carbon tetrachloride vapour degreasing technique. These were grit blasted using suction type grit blasting machine using alumina grit of size 24 mesh. The coatings were sprayed using Met Jet II HP/HVOF system. This system is based upon liquid fuel kerosene and oxygen. The parameters adopted while surface preparation. HVOF spraying parameters are within the range, which are generally adopted for applying an HVOF coating [39]. In brief these are given below. Combustion pressure Spray distance Spray angle Powder feed rate Fuel ow rate Oxygen ow rate Carrier gas ow rate Barrel length Spraying powder 0.72 MPa 380 mm 90 70 g/min 24.75 l/h 950 l/m 45 l/m 150 mm WC10Co4Cr, Praxair WC 636

3. High velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) coatings and laser hardening 3.1. HVOF coatings In recent years, high velocity oxygen fuel coating has been considered an asset to the family of thermal spray processes, especially for thermal spraying of materials with a melting point below 3000 K. It has proven successful, since it shows advantages in density, bond strength and making it attractive for many wear as well as corrosion resistance applications [3237]. Its high coating quality results from the use of a hot combustion-driven compared to chemically/electrochemically formed coatings. Tungsten carbide (WC) powders are widely used in the high velocity oxygen fuel spraying system [33]. These are used to produce dense, high hardness and excellent wear resistance coatings generally to combat erosion and corrosion occurring in the industry. In applications, where abrasive or erosive wear resistance is of primary importance, WCCo with and without nickel or chrome is used. WCCoCr powders are preferred when there is a high demand for corrosion resistance. The erosion resistance depends upon oxides and pores, and the phase transformation occurring during spraying. High velocity oxygen fuel sprayed coatings are commonly applied by HP/HVOF JP-5000, DS-100, Met jet II, OSU, Diamond jet and Praxair 2000 HVAF systems. These systems are based on liquid fuel and oxygen, gaseous fuel and oxygen, and liquid fuel and air. It has been reported that coating microstructure, hardness and composition were the major determinants in erosive wear. The matrix corrosion also inuences the erosive wear. Surface preparation before HVOF coating is a very important step in thermal spraying. This is because the ad-

HVOF coating on all the round samples size 12.7 40 mm long was given in automatic mode. The coating thickness in the range of 250 30 m was maintained on all the samples. 3.2. Laser hardening Laser hardening studies were limited to a narrow power density in the range of 17402400 W/(cm2 /s). After conducting all the tests and conrming all the above ndings, a laser power of 2120 W/(cm2 /s) was selected for experimentation. These studies were based upon Kwok et al. detailed experimentation on laser hardening of 12Cr steel [28].

4. Water droplet erosion testing of different coatings As per ASTM G73, water impingement erosion test facility has been fabricated in house. After establishing the accuracy of results similar to those reported in ASTM G73, this facility has been used for testing of materials/coatings. The test facility consists of a chamber of diameter 700 mm, and a round disc on which the test samples are xed on the periphery. The dimensional details of the test rig are given in Fig. 1. The disc is designed for rotating in a wide range of speeds from 3000 to 6000 rpm. Two water jets impinge on the cylindrical test samples and cause impingement erosion. The cylindrical specimens were selected because the impingement

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Fig. 1. Cross-sectional view of droplet erosion test rig.

erosion on actual LP steam turbine blades occurs at the leading edge. Two different energy uxes, 28.8 106 and 32.64 106 J/m2 s were selected to study the erosion damages occurring in HVOF coated and Laser treated steels. A precision balance to an accuracy of 0.1 mg was used for measurement of weight loss occurring after a certain test duration. The test duration was selected in such a way that steady state impingement erosion occurred. The accuracy of the test results has been conrmed using a reference 12Cr steel. The deviation and accuracy lie within specied accuracy data already available from different laboratories [13]. The results have been plotted as commutative erosiontime curve on a co-ordinate of mean depth of erosion versus time. The depth of erosion is calculated from the weight loss divided by the density of the coatings and the materials. Table 4 gives the materials tested for droplet erosion. Test conditions are given in Table 5.

Table 5 Experimental test conditions Conditions Water jet size Water mass ux Water energy ux Relative water velocity Test sample size Water droplet size Number of specimens used Test duration Jet distance Angle of impingement Impact frequency Experimental accuracy Test I 3.0 m 2.65 m/s 28.8 106 J/m2 s 147.4 m/s 12.70 40 mm 100300 m 10 5.49 106 N 100 mm 090 78 cycles/s 21.25% 103 Test II 3.77 103 m 3 m/s 32.64 106 J/m2 s 147.7 m/s 12.70 40 mm 100300 m 10 2.745 106 N 100 mm 090 78 cycles/s 17.5%

5. Results and discussions 5.1. Scanning electron micrographs

Table 4 Various materials used for droplet erosion testing Materials 12Cr AS 12Cr (ST AS) 13Cr4Ni 17Cr4Ni PH AS Ti6A14V Composition (wt.%) 0.10C, 12Cr, 0.6Si, 0.70Mn 0.20C, 12Cr, 0.5Si, 0.5Mn, 0.5Ni 0.058C, 12Cr, 0.5Si, 0.5Mo, 3.85Ni 0.06C, 15.67Cr, 0.27Si, 0.64Mn, 4.25Ni, 3.6Cu, 0.19Nb 6Al, 4V Balance Balance Balance Balance Fe Fe Fe Fe

Balance Ti

Scanning electron microstructures of eroded samples were taken at low and high magnications. These are given in Figs. 213. From the micrographs, it is observed that that the damage mechanism of 12Cr AS, 12Cr (ST AS), and 13Cr4Ni AS steels is identical and all these materials are failing due to formation of pits due to cleavage. The cleavage damage in 13Cr4Ni AS steel is slightly less compared to the other two steels. The HVOF coating has failed in brittle mode in laminates (Figs. 12 and 13). This is because

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Fig. 2. SEM of eroded 12Cr (ST AS) steel (30).

the HVOF coating is deposited layer by layer. The grain morphology of 17Cr4Ni PH AS, 17Cr4Ni PH HT and 12Cr (ST HT) is identical and similar. 17Cr4Ni PH HT is the nest among all these followed by 17Cr4Ni PH AS, and 12Cr (ST HT). Because of this 17Cr4Ni PH HT has performed much better than other steels. 17Cr4Ni PH series (17Cr4Ni PH AS and 17Cr4Ni PH HT) are eroding in the ductile mode. No oxide deposits were seen on, 12Cr (ST HT), 12Cr LH, 17Cr4Ni PH AS, 17Cr4Ni PH HT and Ti6Al4V. Relevant micrographs conrm that corrosion does not contribute to erosion of these materials. SEM of Ti6Al4V shows that the grains are ne, so its performance is also similar to 17Cr4Ni PH series.

From the micrographs, it is seen that the mode of material removal in 17Cr4Ni PH series and 12Cr (ST HT) is across the grain and in case of Ti6Al4V, deep cavities are observed in longitudinal direction (across the ow) which conrm that the variation of mechanical properties in longitudinal directions compared to transverse direction. The micrographs of 12Cr LH are similar to 12Cr (ST HT). Retention of austenitic in laser processing does not allow the material to erode easily [28]. Due to this, 12Cr LH is performed excellent compared to all other materials at both the energy ux levels. At high energy ux, 13Cr4Ni AS steel has performed much better than 12Cr (ST AS) and 12Cr AS. This is

Fig. 3. SEM of eroded 12Cr (ST AS) steel showing coarse structure (1.5 K).

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Fig. 4. SEM of eroded 12Cr (ST HT) steel (30).

also because of a ner microstructure compared to other steels. After long exposure, deep microtunnels conrming microjetting effects similar to cavitation erosion mechanism are observed in these steels, whereas in the 17Cr4Ni PH, 12Cr LH and 12Cr (ST HT) steels these deep microtunnels conrming microjetting effects are not observed. These microjetting effects in these steels may appear after long testing. 5.2. Properties of materials and coatings

chanical properties the best property which has given an excellent correlation with erosion resistance is modied resilience, a product of ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and hardness. 12Cr (ST HT) followed by 17Cr4Ni PH series follows the trend of droplet erosion resistance. Other properties, such as toughness, yield strength do not play much role. The tensile strength of laser hardened 12 Cr, and HVOF coating could not be measured although some data on toughness on HVOF coating is available [32]. 5.3. Microhardness results

Tables 6 and 7 give the mechanical properties of all the materials and coatings. All these properties were measured using tensile and hardness testing machines. From the me-

The microhardness of the coated steels was measured using Leitzs Micro Hardness Tester by applying a

Fig. 5. SEM of eroded 12Cr (ST HT) steel showing very ne grain structure (1.5 K).

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Fig. 6. SEM of eroded 12Cr LH steel showing damage due to individual droplets (75).

load of 2.942 N. The microhardness values are given in Table 6. 5.4. Surface nish After an operation of 7 h, the surface nish of eroded samples was measured by a perthometer. These values are given in Figs. 1419. From gures it is seen that the 12Cr AS, 12Cr (ST AS) and 13Cr4Ni AS samples have become very rough. EDX analysis shows that the calcium and sodium salt deposits are more in rough samples. Due to this, the phenomenon of erosion and corrosion has been accelerated in these steels.

5.5. X-ray diffraction test results X-ray analysis of WC636 powder reveals tungsten carbide as a main phase and small percentage of Co6 W6 C along with Co and Cr as binder. After HVOF coating, WC was partially converted into W2 C (only small percentage 45%) and Co6 W6 C has been recorded in traces. Cobalt and chromium have converted into amorphous phases. 5.6. Droplet erosion test results The erosion test results of different stainless steels and titanium alloy along with HVOF coating are given in

Fig. 7. SEM of eroded 12Cr LH steel showing very ne grain structure similar to ST HT (1.5 K).

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Fig. 8. SEM of eroded 17Cr4Ni PH HT steel showing very ne grain structure (1.5 K).

Figs. 2022. It is seen from the gures that excellent performance is given by laser hardened 12Cr steel followed by 17Cr4Ni PH series and 12Cr (ST HT). Kwok et al. has reported that excellent resistance to cavitation erosion in case of laser treated stainless steel and AISI 420 steel [28]. This was obtained at a power density of 2266 W/(cm2 /s). The austenitic phase has an excellent characteristic of absorbing impact energy. Conversion of austenitic phase into martensitic phase has induced compressive stresses on the surface, which are benecial to erosion. Evidence of transformation of austenitic phase into martensitic phase after cavitation was also observed. Potentiodynamic polarisation

studies show that the pitting corrosion is low in laser treated steel because laser hardening has resulted in complete dissolution of carbides. The corrosion studies carried out on different volume fractions of retained austenitic also proved that corrosion rate decreased linearly with increased volume fraction of retained austenitic phase during laser hardening. The sizes of the pits on 12Cr (ST AS) steel were measured under the microscope. The sizes are in the range of 30100 m similar to the pits that generally occur during actual droplet erosion of the steam turbine blades. These pits corresponds to droplet size in the range of 100300 m. Gram and Sturm [29] have reported that laser hardening

Fig. 9. SEM of eroded 17Cr4Ni PH AS steel showing ne grain structure (1.5 K).

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Fig. 10. SEM of eroded Ti6Al4V alloy (30).

introduces high tensile stresses of the order of 200 MPa due to rapid heating and cooling. These stresses are detrimental in accelerating stress corrosion-related fatigues damages. It can be seen from Fig. 22 that HVOF sprayed WC636 steel has performed much better at low energy ux compared to higher energy ux whereas 12Cr LH, 12Cr (ST HT), and 17Cr4Ni PH series have performed well at all the energy uxes including incubation period. For all the materials, a drastic reduction in volume loss is observed when energy ux is reduced from 32.64 106 to 28.8 106 J/m2 s but this reduction is very signicant in case of HVOF coating.

Incubation period and ranking of the coatings and materials are given in Tables 810. In actual steam turbine as reported by Krzyzanowski and Szperngiel [8], the energy ux values are much lower so the performance of HVOF coating will improve further significantly. The HVOF coating requires eld evaluation as the laboratory testing for long duration to the steam turbines operating conditions may not be practical and possible. At low energy ux, the superior performance of HVOF coating is due to the hardness of tungsten carbide particles (1800 HV). These are well embedded in the matrix and do not allow wearing out of matrix as these come directly in

Fig. 11. SEM of eroded Ti6Al4V alloy showing ne grain structure (1.5 K).

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Fig. 12. SEM of eroded HVOF coating showing layer by layer damage (30).

Fig. 13. SEM of eroded HVOF coating (1.5 K).

Fig. 14. Surface roughness of 12Cr (ST AS) steel before erosion.

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Table 6 Mechanical properties of different coatings and materials Materials/coated materials 12Cr AS 12Cr (ST AS) 12Cr (ST HT) 13/4 AS 17Cr4Ni PH AS 17Cr4Ni PH HT Ti6Al4V 12Cr HVOF 12Cr LH Yield strength (N/mm2 ) 464.79 721.0 1134.0 813.2 863.49 1305.09 850 Ultimate tensile (N/mm2 ) 720.45 876.0 1562.7 892.20 1224.28 1448.68 874 Hardness (HV) 200210 300350 450500 300310 365380 450460 330350 10901226 550650 Elongation (%) 26.98 23.17 15.6 14.8 13.44 13.04 13 Ultimate resilience (J cm3 ) 1.23 1.83 5.78 1.90 3.577 5.0 3.17 Strain energy (J cm3 ) 157.3 164.3 197.27 112.1 139.68 160.3 96.0 Impact strength (J) 153 93.0 46.2 78.0 112.0 38 65

Ultimate resilience: UTS2 /2E; UTS: ultimate tensile strength; E: Youngs Modulus. The 12Cr AS in annealed condition. The 12Cr (ST AS): actual steam turbine blade material in a forged condition and later on stress relieved for 4 h at 250 C. The 12Cr (ST HT): actual steam turbine blade material in forged condition and heat-treated at 950 C for 1 h followed by water quenching and later on stress relieved for 4 h at 250 C. The 13/4 AS in as cast condition and later on stress relieved for 4 h at 250 C. The 17Cr4Ni PH AS in cast condition and later on stress relieved for 4 h at 250 C. The 17Cr4Ni PH HT in as cast condition and later on aged for 3 h at 490 C. Ti6Al4V alloy in forged condition and later on heat-treated for 1 h at 950 C followed by water quenching and aged for 6 h at 535 C. 12Cr HVOF: HVOF coated 12Cr steel having fracture toughness in the range of 4.55 MPa m2 [32]. 12Cr LH: laser hardened 12Cr steel. Microhardness of 12Cr HVOF was taken at 300 g load.

Fig. 15. Surface roughness of 12Cr (ST AS) steel after erosion.

contact with the water droplets due to higher volume fraction. It is well known that physical properties of materials such as ultimate tensile strength, modied resilience, binding energy and crystal structure play a crucial role in determining the erosion. Feller and Kharrazi [22] have shown that the higher the yield strength and crystal binding energy of a material, the longer the incubation period. However, a

prerequisite is the integrity of the coatings together with a high degree of bonding to the substrate. Diffused coatings produced by chemical vapour deposition are the techniques of achieving such composite structures as reported by Frees [23]. The impingement erosion resistance of HVOF coatings can be explained on the basis that microjets formed by dividing bigger jets into smaller jets cannot penetrate the hard

Fig. 16. Surface roughness of 12Cr (ST HT) steel before erosion.

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Fig. 17. Surface roughness of 12Cr (ST HT) steel after erosion.

Fig. 18. Surface roughness of HVOF coating before erosion.

Fig. 19. Surface roughness of HVOF coating after erosion.

tungsten carbide particles easily. The repetitive high intensity of the striking jet weakens the matrix and is then removed easily by microjets. The signicant improvement of HVOF coated substrates at low energy ux indicates that the hardness of coatings has a crucial role to play in their performance. Catastrophic damage at higher energy levels may follow the trends observed for hard and brittle materials in cavitation erosion such as tungsten carbide and Haynes alloy 6B [12]. From Figs. 20 and 22, it is seen that the performance of HVOF coating has improved signicantly by reducing the energy ux and it will improve signicantly further at lower energy uxes. Kuroda et al. have reported that compressive stresses ranging from

Table 7 Experimentally determined properties of different materials Materials 12Cr AS 12Cr (ST AS) 12Cr (ST HT) 13/4 AS 17Cr4Ni PH AS 17Cr4Ni PH HT Ti6Al4V modied resilience = Hardness (HV) 200210 300350 450500 300310 365380 450460 330350 Modied resilience (HV) 0.369 0.712 1.86 0.68 1.13 1.68 1.29 Impact strength (J) 153 93.0 46.2 78.0 112.0 38 65

UTS(substrate) hardness(substrate) . 2E

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Fig. 20. Volume loss of different materials and coatings at an energy ux of 28.8106 J/m2 s.

70 to 420 MPa were found to be generated during HVOF spraying due to peening effect of spraying particles in semimolten state at high velocity for different materials such as 316 stainless steel, Haste alloy C, WC12% Co on stainless steel substrate. High compressive stresses of the order of 200 MPa in HVOF coating and up to 50 m deep inside the substrate are common [40]. These com-

pressive stresses generated were found to increased with kinetic energy of the spraying particles and are highly benecial in reducing stress corrosion-related fatigues damages. From Tables 6 and 7 and Figs. 2022, it is seen that the material having higher ultimate and modied resilience has performed extremely well in droplet erosion. This property

Fig. 21. Volume loss of different materials and coatings at an energy ux of 32.64106 J/m2 s.

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Fig. 22. Droplet erosion test results of different materials/coatings at 32.64 and 28.8106 J/m2 s.

Table 8 Incubation period of different coatings/materials at different energy uxes Coatings/materials 12Cr AS 13Cr4Ni As HVOF coated 12Cr 12Cr (ST AS) Ti6Al4V 12Cr (ST HT) 17Cr4Ni PH AS 17Cr4Ni PH HT 12Cr LH Energy ux of 28.8 106 J/m2 s (h) 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 8.5 >20 Energy ux of 32.64 106 J/m2 s (h) <1 3 2 2 3 3 4 4 8

Table 10 Volume loss and ranking of different coatings/materials after 2.745 106 N corresponding to an energy ux of 28.8 106 J/m2 s Coatings/materials 12Cr As 13Cr4Ni As ST As HVOF coated 12Cr Ti6Al4V 12Cr (ST HT) 17Cr4Ni PH AS 17Cr4Ni PH HT 12Cr LH Ranking 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Volume loss (mm3 ) 17.8 3.02 1.68 1.14 0.93 0.5 0.36 0.14 0

Table 9 Volume loss and ranking of different coatings/materials after 2.745 106 N corresponding to an energy ux of 32.64 106 J/m2 s Coatings/materials 12Cr As 12Cr (ST AS) HVOF coated 12Cr 13Cr4Ni As Ti6Al4V 17Cr4Ni PH AS 12Cr (ST HT) 17Cr4Ni PH HT 12Cr LH Ranking 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Volume loss (mm3 ) >43.5 26.42 15.17 13.8 6.07 4.1 2.15 1.89 0.82

may be right choice to select a blade material to combat droplet erosion.

6. Conclusions 1. The HVOF coating has failed in brittle mode. It has come out layer by layer. This is because the HVOF coating has been deposited layer by layer. By reducing droplet energy ux the performance of HVOF coating has improved signicantly. For lower energy ux values similar to those occur in steam turbine blades, the HVOF coating may be an appropriate solution for droplet erosion. This

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2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

technique has an advantage of introducing compressive stresses within coatings as well as in the base material, which are benecial to improve fatigue-related corrosion damages. Laser-hardened 12Cr steel has shown excellent performance. This is due to the retention of higher austenitic phase and complete dissolution of carbides as reported by Kwok et al. The austenitic phase has an excellent characteristic of absorbing water impact shocks. Later on, it is converted into a martensitic phase. Conversion of austenitic phase into martensitic phase has induced compressive stresses on the surface, which are benecial to overcome impingement erosion. The grain morphology of 17Cr4Ni PH AS, 17Cr4Ni PH HT and 12Cr (ST HT) is identical and similar. 17Cr4Ni PH HT and 12Cr LH are ne among all these followed by 17Cr4Ni PH AS, and 12Cr (ST HT). Because of this, 17Cr4Ni PH HT and 12Cr LH have performed much better than other steels. 17Cr4Ni PH series (17Cr4Ni PH AS and 17Cr4Ni PH HT) erode in the ductile mode. No oxide deposits were seen on Ti6Al4V, 12Cr (ST HT), 17Cr4Ni PH AS, 17Cr4Ni PH HT and 12Cr LH. This conrms that corrosion does not contribute to erosion for these materials. SEM of Ti6Al4V shows that the grains are ne, so its performance is also similar to 17Cr4Ni PH series. From the micrographs, it is seen that the mode of material removal in 17Cr4Ni PH series and 12Cr (ST HT) is across the grain whereas in case of Ti6Al4V, deep crates are observed in the longitudinal direction (across the ow) which conrms that there is a variation of mechanical properties of this materials in the longitudinal direction compared to transverse direction. 13Cr4Ni steel has performed much better than 12Cr (ST AS) and 12Cr AS at higher energy ux. This is because of ner microstructure compared to other steels. After long exposure, deep microtunnels conrming microjetting effects mechanism are observed in all these steels, whereas in 17Cr4Ni PH series, 12Cr LH and 12Cr (ST HT) these deep microtunnels conrming microjetting effects are not observed. 12Cr (ST AS) steel has performed much better than 12Cr AS at both the energy ux values. This is due to its higher values of ultimate and modied resilience. This criterion is also valid for 17Cr4Ni PH series and 12Cr (ST HT) and Ti6Al4V.

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