A Novel Approach for Durability Evaluation of Metal Protective Coatings in Dynamic Interplay with the Liquid Alloy

The article describes a new test method to quickly evaluate the durability of a protective coating to dynamic contact with liquid metal. The essence of the method is the movement of a drop of liquid metal inside a rotating ring, covered from the inside with the protective coating under test. The parameters determined in the test are analogous to the classic pin-on-disk tribological test. The method was tested for the system: liquid alloy 2017A vs. AlTiN coating on a copper substrate. The test temperature was 750 degrees C, and exposure times ranged from 30 to 90 minutes. Sliding path equivalent for the metal droplet/coating system ranged from 31.6 to 95 m. The study, which included visual evaluation of the surface of the samples, followed by phase and microstructural analysis, showed the high efficiency of the method for assessing the lifetime of protective coatings on contact with liquid metal. The investigated issue was also analyzed from the model side taking into account changes in the diffusion coefficient at the contact of liquid metal with the substrate, occurring with the progressive degradation of the protective coating.