316L Stainless Steel Thermal Spray Wire Equivalent to Tafa 88T Metco Metcoloy #16 

Stainless Steel Thermal Spray wire

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Thermal spraying techniques are coating processes in which melted (or heated) materials are sprayed onto a surface.The "feedstock" (coating precursor) is heated by electrical (plasma or arc) or chemical means (combustion flame).Thermal spraying can provide thick coatings (approx. thickness range is 20 micrometers to several mm, depending on the process and feedstock), over a large area at high deposition rate as compared to other coating processes such aselectroplating, physical and chemical vapor deposition. Coating materials available for thermal spraying include metals,alloys, ceramics, plastics and composites. They are fed in powder or wire form, heated to a molten or semimolten state and accelerated towards substrates in the form of micrometer-size particles.

Combustion or electrical arc discharge is usually used as the source of energy for thermal spraying. Resulting coatings are made by the accumulation of numerous sprayed particles. The surface may not heat up significantly, allowing the coating of flammable substances.

Coating quality is usually assessed by measuring its porosity, oxide content, macro and micro-hardness, bond strength andsurface roughness. Generally, the coating quality increases with increasing particle velocities.

Bond coats applied using electric arc wire spray are very clean and more easily machined than their powder-sprayed counterparts. Wires are popular for machine element repair, most commonly on carbon steel, low-alloy steel, and stainless-steel substrates.

Stainless Steel 316L Thermal Spray Wire(Equivalent to Tafa 88T ) Chemical Composition:

Mechanical Properties:

Specification of wire: 1.6mm, 3.2mm, 15kg/spool

Thermal Spray Know-How

Thermal Spray Coatings are produced by projecting a molten stream of particles onto the base material. On impact these particles deform and solidify to form splats, and these splats mechanically lock onto the surface. There are numerous ways of generating the stream of molten particles using an electric-arc, plasma or a combustion process.

Depending on the process it is possible to procuce coatings of pure metals, alloys, ceramics and ceramic metal composites (cermets), and coating thickness generally varies between 0.1 and 2.0 mm. The adhesion and cohesion of a thermal spray coating is purely mechanical, which has certain advantages and disadvantages.

The main advantage is that there is no metallurgical compatability issue between the substrate and the coating, and it is therefore possible to apply a wide variety of coating materials onto essentially any substrate (e.g. bronze and cast-iron). The heat input into the base materials is also limited, and it is therefore possible to apply a thermal spray coating to a heat-sensitive substrate (e.g. heat-treated HSLA steels like 4140 and martensitic stainless steel) with no risk of softening or distortion. The main disadvantage is that the adhesive and cohesive strength of a thermal spray coating is relatively low, making coatings susceptible to damage from high mechanical loads (such as point or impact loads), cyclical loads or thermal stresses.

High Velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) uses high-pressure combustion as the heat source to create a high-velocity gas stream that both melts and propels a powder feedstock material to the substrate. HVOF coatings generally exhibit fine homogeneous microstructures, low in oxide and porosity content, that are tenaciously bonded to the substrate.

Combustion spray uses the combustion of a fuel gas and oxy gen to create a heat source, but at lower pressures than HVOF. Combustion spray is an economical choice for the application of quality coatings.

Combustion Powder Spray uses metals, metallic alloys or fine ceramics as the feed stock material in powder form.

Combustion Wire Spray uses metals or metallic alloys as the feedstock material in wire form. It is often used for the application of hard coatings for salvage and restoration and is well-known for the application of corrosion coatings, even on very large structures.

Electric arc wire spray uses two electrically charged feedstock wires, of opposite polarity, that are brought together at a controlled rate to form an arc. This arc melts the wire feedstock and an air stream propels the molten material to the substrate. Electric arc wire is commonly used to apply bond coat materials, salvage and restoration coatings and a wide range of corrosion coatings on large structures. As the coolest of all thermal spray processes, it can be used to coat many substrates, including metals and plastics.