Fabrication & characterisation of protective HEA films on Mg substrate by mechanical alloying, cold spraying & post-surface laser annealing processing

Project Information

HEAfilmonMg

Grant agreement ID: 101018482

DOI

10.3030/101018482

Project closed

EC signature date 22 April 2021

Start date 1 November 2021

End date 31 October 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 196 590,72

EU contribution

€ 196 590,72

Coordinated by

THE PROVOST, FELLOWS, FOUNDATION SCHOLARS & THE OTHER MEMBERS OF BOARD, OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY & UNDIVIDED TRINITY OF QUEEN ELIZABETH NEAR DUBLIN
Ireland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - HEAfilmonMg (Fabrication & characterisation of protective HEA films on Mg substrate by mechanical alloying, cold spraying & post-surface laser annealing processing)

Reporting period: 2021-11-01 to 2023-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Development & fabrication of Mg/Mg-alloys protective coating/repair applications, identified as having the greatest economic & financial benefits for the aerospace sector, machinery, automotive, railway vehicle industries, medical, sport, computers/electronics, optical equipment and household working tools industry movable parts by depositing protective Al(Mn)-HEA (high entropy alloys) coatings on Mg/Mg-alloy parts with MA (mechanical alloying) + CS (cold spray) + post-vacuum annealing (VA) processing which is a promising, cost-effective & environmentally acceptable technology to impart surface protection & restore dimensional tolerances (repair) to Mg alloy components.

Motivation to Solve the Technical Problem: Magnesium alloys, widespread in stress-bearing applications (movable parts in helicopters/vehicles) do have short lives due to corrosion/wear & protective films are anxiously awaited by many different industrial application.
Proposed solution: Not only to repair (restore dimensional tolerances) damaged Mg-based parts but also to impart surface protection to fresh/damaged Mg-based parts, a revolutionary, radically new/impactful technology of powder metallurgy (MA) & additive manufacturing processing (CS and VA) was used.

Objectives of the project:
1-Feasibility proof of producing protective Al(Mn)-HEA coatings on Mg parts for automotive & aircraft industry.
2-Characterization & Testing: Investigation of microstructures & properties of MA-HEA powder feedstocks, HEA CS+VA coating deposits.
3-Promoting widespread understanding of the project`s technical content, at a variety of expertise levels, through appropriate reporting, exploitation, dissemination, communication & public engagement.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Fabrication with promising, cost effective, and environmentally acceptable technology of combined MA+CS+VA processing and characterization of the novel, innovative, repairable, and protective Al(Mn)-HEA coatings on Mg parts.

Results: MA: Elemental powders of Al, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, & Mn with purity greater than 99.5% were used to synthesize HEAs via the MA route. (See images 1 and 2)

CS: CS coating samples of MAed Al0.1-0.5(Mn)CoCrCuFeNi HEA powder feedstock on Mg substrates were produced. Characterization of these samples allowed estimation of the deformation ratio & deposition efficiency of the CS process. CS depositions were carried out at three different N2-gas) temperatures: 650, 750 and 850oC with 3.0 MPa pressure. (See images 3-6)

VA: Cold spray HEA coating deposits on Mg substrate were subjected to VA at 600oC to decrease the level of porosity, to increase their density & uniformity, to positively affect coating mechanical properties such as hardness improvement, etc. (see image 7)

Exploitation activities: The approach of the project team is based on defining & protecting IP. Technology that was developed by the project team constituted IP, which reached beyond the state-of-the-art & has commercial value. All IPR issues will be finalized in the Research Agreement.

Formation of a Spin-off company by ER: Outward flow of IP will be managed/commercialized via a start-up company by ER for a socio-economic return and this will entail agreements between TCD & ER. Unilateral NIDA/NDA between TCD & spinoff company that will be formed by ER will be done. NDC within agreements such as exclusive license agreements will also be done.

Exploitation: Potential commercial application

Product: Protective Al(Mn)-HEA coat on Mg parts.
Process: Combined MA+CS+VA processing.
Services: 1-Repair and surface protection of damaged Mg-parts

Dissemination to the scientific community; refer to the publication’s list of the project. Networking with academic and industry researchers worldwide in the project technical field was done.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Scientific Impact: The findings of the present research project are genuinely original. As such it has an intrinsic innovative nature. To avoid failure due to cracking in applications, coatings should have high toughness, i.e. hard & ductile. With this fact in mind, Al(Mn)-HEA coatings were fabricated to improve corrosion, oxidation/wear resistance of Mg based substrate materials successfully & they exhibit enhanced mechanical properties as compared to the traditional stainless steels & some superalloys at different temperature environments. The thermal stability/wear/oxidation resistance of these HEA coatings are also better. This research is a pioneering work on novel coatings formation in Al and Mn-HEA systems initially on a laboratory scale. Efforts will continue to be made after the project to make a claim for an industrial application.

Socio-economic impacts: It is a well known that progress in high social impact fields relies on the development of new materials solutions with enhanced functional and/or structural properties. In this respect, current technology developed (combined MA+CS+VA processing) is a practical way for adjusting the microstructures/properties and improvements in wear/corrosion/oxidation resistance of Al(Mn) based light weight HEAs.

Economic/technological Impact: Wear resistant HEA coatings are for example established in manufacturing and aerospace technologies. Al(Mn)-HEA coatings are being researched/fabricated to improve the corrosion, oxidation and wear resistance of substrate materials successfully, including Mg. CS deposition and subsequent VA of HEA-coating resulted in improved mechanical properties. It is foreseen that, with MA+CS+VA processing, technical efficiency/repeatability will be improved leading to reduced costs and timeline in the production of HEA coatings on Mg-based parts. Reduced cycle time, improved readiness are some additional examples of the economic impact of the project results. The readiness/safety of high value aerospace sector, machinery/automotive industry components will be increased/ significantly improved & cost of maintenance of these parts will be significantly decreased. MA+CS+VA technology can be extensively used for repair/maintenance of these parts resulting in millions of euros of savings. Researched processing method is a cost-effective new technology for coating/repair of high value Mg components.

Societal Impact: The project showed MA+CS+VA processing as a promising, cost-effective & environmentally acceptable technology to impart surface protection/restore dimensional tolerances to Mg alloy components, for example, of helicopters & fixed-wing aircraft together with automotive industry parts. Research team evaluated the potential of the Al(Mn)-HEA coatings & MA+CS+VA processing for the coating/repair of high value Mg alloy components, and showed that the Mg applications range will increase because these can be repaired better with the current technology developed in the project & this will expand the market by providing Mg parts that will already be treated & will not need any extra time consuming repairs. All this will affect the production line positively & with huge economic cost savings: a significant advantage for production line investors & for their employees in terms of increased industrial profits resulting in possible increases in salary payments, bringing financial/economic wealth to the EU.

Graphical abstracts for MA process and CS process

Macrophotos, LM and SEM photos of HEA coatings

Optical micrography of MA powders

Graphical abstract for vacuum anneal process