Numerical Study on Rapid Solidification of a Plasma-Sprayed Cast Iron Splat on a High-Temperature Substrate

In this work, an experiment was performed to demonstrate the possibility of the metallurgical bonding in plasma-sprayed cast iron coatings at high substrate temperature. A quantitative analysis of splat cooling and rapid solidification of cast iron splat is then presented. The effect of the substrate temperature on the development of melt undercooling within the splat is investigated in detail. The results indicated that the initial substrate temperature has a profound effect on the development of melt undercooling in a splat, the splat bottom melt temperature, and the substrate surface temperature. A high initial temperature of the substrate restrains the cooling of the splat and leads to a high melt temperature that may promote the grain growth directly on cast iron substrate surface to form the metallurgical bonding.