Journal of Materials Processing Technology 171 (2006) 167174

Pulsed current plasma transferred arc hardfacing

A.S.C.M. DOliveira a, , R.S.C. Paredes a , R.L.C. Santos b
a

Mechanical Engineering Departament, Universidade Federal do Parana, Centro Politecnico,

CxP 19011, 81531990 Curitiba/PR, Brazil
b PG-MEC, Universidade Federal do Paran
a, Agencia Nacional do Petroleo (ANP),
Centro Politecnico, CxP 19011, 81531990, Brazil
Received 8 January 2004; accepted 2 February 2005

Abstract
Hardfacing is used to enhance surface properties of a metallic component, as a specially designed alloy is surface welded to achieve specific
wear properties. Surface properties and quality depend upon the selected alloy and welding process. Powder feeding plasma transferred arc
(PTA) allows for homogeneous refined microstructure, low distortion and dilution, resulting on enhanced surface properties when compared
to hardfaced deposits processed with other welding techniques. This work evaluates the effect of pulsed current on an high carbon cobalt
alloy deposited by PTA on carbon and stainless steel. Results showed that the use of pulsed current leads to a finer microstructure, higher
hardness and lower dilution. The role of the substrate steel depends on the set of processing parameters used but for a same set of parameters
it determines microstructural features of the coatings.
2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Hardfacing; Plasma transferred arc; Pulsed current; Cobalt alloys

1. Introduction
Hardfacing is a technique used to enhance surface properties of a metallic component as a specially designed alloy
is surface welded in order to achieve specific wear properties. Surface properties and quality depend upon the selected
alloys and deposition processes. Among the latter powder
feeding plasma transferred arc (PTA) allows for homogeneous refined microstructure, low distortion and dilution,
resulting on enhanced surface properties [1,2] when compared to hardfaced deposits processed with conventional
welding processes.
PTA process employs the plasma principle hence it may
be considered an evolution of GTAW process, where the
high-energy concentration is due to the use of a constrictor
nose, which restrains the column diameter of an electric arc
established between a tungsten electrode and the workpiece
in an inert gas atmosphere, usually argon. Feeding material

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: sofmat@ufpr.br (A.S.C.M. DOliveira).

0924-0136/$ see front matter 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2005.02.269

is carried to the plasma jet by a gas stream, which might

be inert, active or a mixture of active and inert gases. A
third gas flow is employed to protect the metal pool from
atmospheric contamination. Even though there is the possibility of using mixtures of active and inert gases, argon
is typically employed for all three-gas systems [1,3]. Work
done by several researchers included the comparison with
other hardfacing processes [46], wear and corrosion resistance behaviour [79] and microstructure features [10,11]
for different alloys. None of these researches referred the
use of pulsed current although it is an interesting alternative
to continuous current either from the process or metallurgical standpoint. Process main advantage is the possibility
of working with high current peaks without increasing the
average heat input (energy) to the substrate. From the metallurgical standpoint, the use of pulsed current on conventional surface welding processes has been associated with a
finer structure due to an increase of the melt pool agitation.
Refinement of the solidification structure has been attributed
to an enhanced nucleation rate due to dendrite broken tips
[12].

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168
Table 1
Chemical composition (wt%)

AISI 304
AISI 1020
Co alloy

Cr

Ni

Mn

Mo

Fe

Co

0.08
0.20
2.4

1820

30.5

810

12.5

Bal.
Bal.

Bal.

Table 2
Processing parameters for continuous and pulsed current deposits

melted area and total melted area (Fig. 1). Microstructural

analysis was performed by optical and scanning electronic
microscopy on the transverse section of specimens. Vickers
microhardness profiles were done under 500 g load, on this
same section. Quantitative metalography was used to determine interdendritric spacing.

3. Results and discussion

Continuous current
Hardfacing current (A)
Plasma gas (l/min)
Shield gas (l/min)
Carrier gas (l/min)
Powder feeding rate (g/min)
Hardfacing speed (mm/min)

170
2.05
15
3.0
22
100

220
2.20
15
3.0
22
100

Pulsed current
Peak current (Ip ) (A)
Peak time (tp ) (ms)

170
5

220
5

Base current (Ib ) (A)

Base time (tb ) (ms)

75
8

75
8

This work evaluates the influence of pulsed current and

substrate material on coatings quality requirements, dilution
and microstructure, and their effect on coatings hardness. An
high carbon cobalt alloy, known by its restricted weldability
but excellent wear properties, was PTA deposited on stainless
steel and low carbon steel substrates.

3.1. Surface features

Good surface quality evaluated by visual inspection and
dye penetrant showed a non-crack and non-porosity condition
on the deposits produced, exception being tracks ends.
A general view of the coatings processed is presented
in Fig. 2. It is interesting to notice that even though no
pre-heating was done no cracks were observed on coatings
deposited on both substrates with both current modes. This
result confirms the better quality of the processing procedures
used, as high hardness alloys typically require pre-heating
to reduce cracking susceptibility [1]. Dye penetrant analysis
completed surface evaluation and showed a non-crack and
porosity condition, confirming the good surface quality of
the coatings. However, deposits on carbon steel showed processing defects, like undercut, on pulsed current specimens,
resulting on the exclusion of these specimens from further
evaluation.
3.2. Dilution

2. Experimental procedures
An atomized cobalt-based alloy, particle size within the
range 45235 m, was deposited by plasma transferred arc
hardfacing process on AISI 304 stainless steel and AISI 1020
carbon steel plates, 75 mm 100 mm 8 mm. As received
chemical composition (wt%) of substrate and coating material is presented in Table 1.
Two sets of specimen were processed, on both substrates
using two current intensity levels, one with pulsed current and
the other for comparison purposes with continuous current
corresponding to the peak currents used (Table 2). Processing parameters were set to obtain a significant difference in
dilution levels [13] and different energy densities.
Coating characteristics were evaluated by visual inspection and dye penetrant for the presence of cracks and pores.
Dilution was evaluated as the area ratio between the substrate

As mentioned before, dilution is a determining factor

whenever one wants to assess coating properties. Dilution
results measured for the different processing conditions are
shown in Fig. 3. For the two current intensities levels, a reduction on dilution levels was measured for specimens processed
with pulsed current. This is expected as for the processing
parameters used [14], continuous current specimens average heat input is more significant than for pulsed current
specimens and dilution is known to be dependent on current
intensity. In the latter, although peak current reached an intensity identical to that used for continuous current processing,
due to the low base current the average heat input was lower
for these sets of specimens. Regarding the influence of the
substrate material on the measured dilution, results vary with
the current intensity used. For the lower current intensity,
results agree with the work of Yaedu [13] and Colaco [15],
as dilution decreases for coatings deposited on carbon steel

Fig. 1. Procedure used to evaluate dilution levels.

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169

Fig. 2. General view of the deposited tracks.

Fig. 3. Dilution levels measured on the coatings deposited on different substrates (CS, carbon steel; SS, stainless steel), and processed with different current
modes.

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substrates compared to the measured results on the alloyed

steel. However, for the higher current intensity dilution is
not influenced by the chemical composition of the substrate,
suggesting that the heat input plays a major role, overcoming
substrate features such as its thermal conductivity.
3.3. Solidication kinetics
Solidification kinetics were evaluated by microstructure
analysis. Fig. 4 shows coatings microstructures, as observed
under optical microscopy, near the external surface and the
fusion line. A typical solidification structure is observed with
dendrites of a Co-rich matrix and a carbide interdendritic
region.
Current mode effect on microstructure is shown in
Figs. 4 and 5. A structure refinement occurs after processing
with pulsed current. This was observed through the coating
thickness from the interface with the base material to the

external surface. Literature has attributed structure refinement after processing with pulsed current to an increase on
nucleation rate, as dendrites arms break due to the melt pool
agitation [12]. In the present study, the increase on nucleation rate cannot be attributed exclusively to molten pool
agitation. Compared to powder particles size, dendrites arms
are too fine to survive in the melt pool, and are expected to
remelt. Previous research work [16] has shown that deposits
obtained using powder as feeding material exhibited finer
structures compared to those obtained using feeding material
in the wire form. This difference was attributed to a change on
solidification kinetics, where an increase on nucleation rate
was a consequence of the clustering of powder particles acting
as solidification nuclei. Following the same theory structure
refinement can be attributed to the formation of smaller clusters of powder particles due to the current pulses, resulting on
increasing nucleation rates. During pulsed current processing, undercooling is larger due to the increased temperature

Fig. 4. Microstructure features coatings near the external surface and fusion line.

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Fig. 5. Coatings microstructures near external surface as observed under SEM.

gradient in the melt, as a consequence smaller nuclei are

allowed to survive. This higher nucleation rates should lead
to an enhanced growing rate, favouring segregation, ratifying
the higher amounts of interdendritic region observed near the
fusion line on pulsed current deposits (Fig. 4). As growth initiates, due to the planar solidification front, one could expect
a rapid build up of solute ahead of the solid. After solidification growth stabilizes away from the fusion line, a steady state
is expected to be reached, accounting for the more homogeneous structures observed through the melt pool [17].
This behaviour was observed for both current intensity
levels, the major difference being a general structure coarsening as current intensity is raised, as confirmed by scanning
microscopy analysis (Fig. 5) and quantitative metalography
(Figs. 6 and 7).
The influence of substrate properties on solidification
structure depended on the current intensity used (Fig. 4). In
fact for the lower current intensity, 170A, coatings deposited
on carbon steel substrates exhibited a finer structure that those

Fig. 6. Secondary arm spacing near surface.

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172

Fig. 7. Secondary arm spacing near fusion line.

deposited on stainless steel. As described by Yaedu [13],

the higher thermal conductivity of the former responds for
a faster cooling rate leading to a finer structure. However, for
the higher current intensity used, 220A, the influence of substrate properties is overcome by the increase on heat input.
As a consequence, final microstructures depended mainly on
the processing parameters.
3.4. Surface hardness
Coatings mechanical properties assessed through their
hardness profiles confirmed the determining role of

solidification kinetics and dilution, for the two current

intensity levels, respectively. As described, higher current intensities resulted on coarser structures and higher
dilution levels, the expected lower hardness is confirmed
on the measured profiles (Figs. 8 and 9). Regarding processing with pulsed current, mechanical behaviour was
expected to be superior in these coatings when compared
to deposits obtained with continuous current as dilution
level was reduced and a structure refinement observed.
Hardness profiles confirm this behaviour as a higher hardness was measured on deposits processed with pulsed current.
As to the influence of substrate material, it was
observed that its role depended on the current intensity, again hardness profiles agree with the previous
analysis. For the lower current intensity level, coatings
deposited on carbon steel substrate exhibited a higher
hardness than those deposited on stainless steel substrate. As dilution levels increased and structure coarsened, on the higher current intensity level used in
this work, the role of the substrate properties was
expected to be less important than before. However,
although a general reduction on the magnitude of hardness was measured, hardness profiles are still higher
for deposits obtained on carbon steel substrates. Hardening differences between coatings deposited on carbon and stainless steels are now half of that measured
for specimen processed with the lower current intensity
level.

Fig. 8. Hardness profiles for coatings deposited with 170A, continuous and pulsed current.

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173

Fig. 9. Hardness profiles measured on coatings processed with the higher current intensity level.

4. Conclusions
Pulsed current processing resulted on finer and more
homegenous solidification structures and lower dilution
levels, and as a consequence on coatings exhibiting higher
hardness.
Current intensity determined the role of the chemical
composition of the substrate. Higher current intensities
reduced substrate influence on dilution and structure features, but for both current intensities used coatings hardness was higher for deposits produced on carbon steel
substrates.
Increasing current intensity levels resulted on higher dilution and lower hardness.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank to Agencia Nacional do
Petroleo (ANP) for funding this work and for the scholarship
of Mr. R.L.C. dos Santos. Thanks are also due to Delore Stellite for material supply, in particularly to Mr. Sergio Simoes
for helpful discussions.

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