Aluminium coatings diffusion

Sprayed, vacuum-deposited and plated coatings can be applied to most metals and to many non-metals, e.g. vacuum deposition is applied to many substrates including plastics spray application can be used for coating fabric, plastic and paper. Hot dipping and other diffusion processes are dependent on the nature of the substrate for the properties of the coating. Most commercial applications of aluminium coatings are on iron and steel with smaller quantities applied to aluminium alloys and plastics. 

The corrosion resistance of aluminium coatings is generally related to that of solid aluminium of similar thickness. Additional factors arise with sprayed coatings associated with texture, and with aluminised and other coatings when diffusion from the substrate can occur. 

Up to 550°C, aluminium coatings may be used in the as applied condition, and the hot-dipped aluminium-silicon alloy may be used up to at least 680°C, but for service at higher temperatures additional diffusion treatment is recommended for all except Calorised coatings. 

Up to 750°C, the performance of all aluminium diffusion coatings is considered to be very good, but above this temperature the results appear to be dependent on the coating thickness, diffusion treatment and the specific service environment. Sprayed aluminium coatings can be used up to 900°C after diffusion treatment. Hot-dipped coatings also benefit from additional diffusion treatment, and omission of silicon from the coating alloy improves performance at the elevated temperatures. 

This leaves PMMA and PC as the contenders. The disc design is asymmetric, with an impermeable aluminium coating on one side, so dimensional changes caused by water diffusing into the polymer make the disc bow. The water absorption of PMMA at saturation relative humidity is 2.1wt.%, compared with 0.4% for PC. The diffusion constants at 23 °C for water are 0.5 x 10 and 4.8 x 10 mm s , respectively. The CD surface warping must be less than 0.6°, for the laser spot to focus properly. This rules out a PMMA disc with one side sealed, because it would expand over a period of tens of days as water diffuses through the 1mm thick... 

An interesting application of sprayed aluminium is for resistance to high-temperature oxidation up to 900°C. The article is grit-blasted and aluminium sprayed, usually to a thickness of 0-008 in (0-2 mm). It is then treated with a sealing composition which may be bitumen or water-glass, and is diffusion annealed in a furnace at 850 C for approximately 30 min. The final coating... 

Hot Dipped Coatings Major attempts have been made to improve the quality of aluminised steel strip. Requirements on coating thickness and uniformity have been imposed. It is the speed of sheet movement, length of path in the molten bath, temperature and composition of the bath that control the thickness of the intermetallic layer which lies below the aluminium outer surface. The process of intermetallic alloy formation is diffusion controlled, and it is usual that some dissolution of iron into the molten aluminium does occur at a rate, Ac/At, which is given by... 

Couch, D. E. and Connor, J. H., Nickel-Aluminium Alloy Coatings Produced by Electrodeposition and Diffusion , J. Electrochem. Soc., 107, 272 (1960)... 

Little, M. V., Bonding Aluminium To Ferrous Alloys , Machinery, N. Y., 56, 173 (1950) Drewett, R., Diffusion Coatings for the Protection of Iron and Steel , Part I, Anti-Corrosion, 16 No. 4, 11-16, April (1969)... 

Volatile metal halides, usually chlorides and fluorides, also form the heart of several processes used to produce surface layers, rich in aluminium, chromium, or silicon, or combinations of these. In these processes, the workpiece to be coated is buried in a powder bed and heated to reaction temperature. The bed consists of a mixture of inert alumina filler, a master alloy powder that contains the aluminium, etc., and an activator such as ammonium chloride. Basically, at about 630°C, the activator volatilizes and the aluminium chloride vapour reacts with the master alloy to produce a volatile aluminium chloride, which then reacts with the workpiece surface to deposit aluminium. The deposited aluminium proceeds to diffuse into the surface layers of the workpiece to produce a diffusion coating. The process is driven basically by the difference in aluminium activity between the master alloy and the worlqtiece. These processes are well documented in principle, but their execution to provide reproducible and reliable results still involves considerable experience, or rule of thumb. These processes will be described in detail in Chapter 10. Finally, a chlorination treatment is used to remove tin from tin-plated steel. This uses a normally deleterious reaction to advantage and profit in the recovery of both tin and steel for recycling. Fluorination is used in the manufacture of polymers and fluorocarbon consequently, materials suitable for construction of these plants must be resistant to fluorine attack. 

In diffusion coating, the substrate surface is enriched in an element that will provide high-temperature corrosion resistance. Typical elements are chromium (chromizing), aluminium (aluminizing), or silicon (siliconizing). The substrate is involved... 

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