Abstract
Chromium deposited by high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) versus cathodic arc (CA) processes exhibits very different mechanical properties. Combining the two can result in a single-phase with superior performance that can be tailored for use in coating SiC for advanced nuclear fuel cladding. Coating morphology, residual stress, elemental depth profiles, and mechanical testing by scratch, pull-off adhesion, and microcantilevers are shown for HiPIMS, CA, and combined coatings. CA coatings were likely to spall and had lower adhesion strength due to tensile residual stresses but had desirable material properties. By depositing an initial layer of Cr by HiPIMS followed by a layer of Cr by CA, a more adherent coating was achieved and some of the stress issues with CA morphology were resolved. Combined coatings withstood at least 80 MPa in pull-off adhesion tests and had maximum failure stress values of 5GPa in microcantilever tests. These results were better than either individual deposition method and point to a hybrid approach being a path forward for a more robust coating.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 126939 |
| Journal | Surface and Coatings Technology |
| Volume | 410 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 25 2021 |
Funding
This work was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, Advanced Fuel Campaign of Nuclear Technology Research & Development program under contact DE-AC05-00OR22725 with Oak Ridge National Laboratory managed by UT Battelle, LLC. This research used the resources of the Low Activation Materials Development and Analysis Laboratory, a DOE Office of Science research facility operated by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The authors would like to thank Mike McFarland and Kelvin Wong from Acree Technologies Incorporated for their help with consulting on deposition parameters and depositing the coatings, and Tom Gear for his expertise in preparing the cross-sections. The authors would also like to thank Anne Campbell and Kenneth Kane for their feedback on the manuscript. This manuscript has been co-authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| U.S. Department of Energy | DE-AC05-00OR22725 |
| Oak Ridge National Laboratory | |
| UT-Battelle |
Keywords
- Cathodic arc
- Ceramic nuclear fuel cladding
- Chromium
- HiPIMS
- Mechanical testing
- Silicon carbide