NUST MISIS scientists have discovered that adding zirconium nitride to aluminum alloys significantly increases their strength and wear resistance. This discovery is especially important for the automotive and aerospace industries, which require lightweight and durable materials.
Aluminum alloys are widely used in the automotive and aviation industries due to their lightness and availability. However, their low hardness and wear resistance limit their use under high load conditions. To solve this problem, NUST MISIS scientists proposed using the cold spraying method with the addition of zirconium nitride.
Cold spraying is a modern technology that allows you to apply coatings without heating to high temperatures. This eliminates the risk of changes in the chemical composition of the material and the appearance of microcracks. During the research, scientists created powder mixtures with different contents of zirconium nitride and studied their properties.
It turned out that the addition of 30% zirconium nitride ensures a uniform distribution of particles in the alloy, which significantly increases its strength, hardness and wear resistance. Losses of ceramic particles during spraying were reduced from 50% to 2%.
“This method opens up new opportunities for creating lightweight and durable materials, which are especially in demand in the automotive and aerospace industries,” noted Dmitry Moskovskikh, director of the Research Center “Structural Ceramic Nanomaterials.”
The research results, published in the journal Advanced Engineering Materials, confirm the promise of using zirconium nitride to improve the properties of aluminum alloys. This discovery promotes the development of hybrid technologies that combine 3D printing and cold spraying.
Source: naked-science.ru
Photo: Sample with and without coating / © Press service of NUST MISIS
