Optimal Process Parameters for a Thermal-Sprayed Molybdenum-Reinforced Zirconium Diboride Composite on a Dummy Substrate

Muftah M. Mihoob, Haetham G. Mohammed, Thar Mohammed Badri Albarody (), Faiz Ahmad and Mohamad Sahban Alnarabiji
Additional contact information
Muftah M. Mihoob: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP), Seri Iskandar 32610, Malaysia
Haetham G. Mohammed: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP), Seri Iskandar 32610, Malaysia
Thar Mohammed Badri Albarody: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP), Seri Iskandar 32610, Malaysia
Faiz Ahmad: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP), Seri Iskandar 32610, Malaysia
Mohamad Sahban Alnarabiji: Centre for Advanced Material and Energy Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Jalan Tungku Link, Gadong BE 1410, Brunei

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 24, 1-14

Abstract: Thermal spray is an effective process for the fabrication of a metal matrix composite (MMC), where a zirconium diboride reinforcement is embedded in a molybdenum matrix to enable the combining of favorable properties in a new composite. The combination of two leading materials in the category of ultra-high-temperature ceramics (UHTCs) is due to a very high melting point (Mo: 2623 °C and ZrB 2 : 3245 °C), high thermal conductivity (Mo: 139 W/m°C and ZrB2: 24 W/m°C), good thermal shock resistance, low coefficient of thermal expansion (Mo: 5.35 µm/m°C and ZrB 2 : 5.9 × 10 −6 K −1 ), retention of strength at elevated temperatures and stability in extreme environments. Thermal spraying of the Mo/ZrB2 composite possesses a non-linear behavior that is influenced by many coating variables. This characteristic makes finding the optimal factor combination difficult. Therefore, an effective and strategic statistical approach incorporating systematic experimental data is needed to optimize the process. In this study, the L9 orthogonal array in the Taguchi approach was utilized to optimize the spraying distance (SD), number of passes (NP), pressure (P) and coat-face temperature (T CF ) using a dummy fiberglass substrate. The performance was evaluated based on the coating density (C d ) of the surfaces. Based on confirmation tests, our Taguchi analysis determined the ideal process parameters, which considerably enhanced the coating process. From the output response of the ANOVA, the most influential parameters for achieving a high coating density (C d ) were determined to be SD = 20 cm, NP = 24, P = 4 bar and T CF = 330 °C ((SD.)1-(NP.)3-P2-(S.T.)3). These observations show that the coating density (C d ) was significantly influenced by the coat-face temperature, followed by the number of passes, spraying distance and pressure with the following contributions 6.29, 17.89, 17.42 and 3.35%, respectively.

Keywords: thermal spray; process parameters; spraying distance; molybdenum; zirconium diboride (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/24/9415/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/24/9415/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:24:p:9415-:d:1001400

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().