 |
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
Ames Laboratory Plasma Spray (ALPS) Facility
The Ames Laboratory Plasma Spray (ALPS) Facility uses Ames Laboratory's
skill and expertise with materials to make new metal and ceramic
coating to improved wear or corrosion resistance, thermal and electrical
insulation, and oxidation protection. An initial ALPS Facility activity
was to develop coatings for crucible liners, which are able to contain
molten materials that are very reactive and have high melting temperatures.
Following the early development of numerous refractory crucible-liner-coating
systems, the ALPS Facility has matured in a short time to tackle new challenges,
which extend the traditional capabilities of plasma arc spraying. Examples of
new materials and processes developed in the ALPS Facility as part of its research
mission or in cooperation with industrial partners include:
- Quasicrystalline (AL-Cu-Fe)
coatings for reduced friction, high hardness, oxidation resistance
and low
surface energy (General
Motors, Deere & Co.);
- Plasma spheroidization of refractory powers to produce spherical,
dense particles with specific phase contents and properties
(Longyear Co.);
- Fabrication of monolithic and composite free-standing shapes,
which cannot be formed by conventional techniques.
- Variable
diameter ceramic tubes with
an interior
layer of a refractory metal have been produced to allow induction heating
of the tube.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
| |
|
|
