Investigations on wetting and structural behavior using CaF2-SiO2-CaO-22.5%TiO2 SMAW electrode coating for AUSC applications

This study investigates the structural behavior and high-temperature wettability of a CaF2-SiO2-CaO-22.5%TiO2 shielded metal arc welding electrode coating for advanced ultra-supercritical power plant applications. The wettability parameters were measured, including contact angle, spread area, adhesion energy, and surface tension. Extreme vertices mixture design approaches were used to develop 13 different electrode coatings. To determine the contact angle at solid/liquid interface, circular pellets were made from powder samples and heated inside the furnace at 1125 degrees C at a constant heating rate. Young's and Boni's equations are used to calculate the surface tension value for 13 coated samples using the calculated contact angle. Adhesion energy for 13 coated samples is calculated using Dupre's equation. Phases and structural behavior of coating samples were measured by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The developed regression model estimates the impact of primary ingredients and their interaction on the calculated wettability characteristics. CaF2.SiO2, CaO.SiO2, and CaO.CaF2 binary mixture is the more favorable and substantially impacts contact angle, whereas ternary interactions of CaO.SiO2.CaF2 shows an opposite effect on contact angle. Coating numbers 2 and 10 give better wetting behavior and spread area due to the low value of contact angles. Individual ingredient shows an increasing effect on surface tension and adhesion energy. Ternary component of CaO.CaF2.SiO2 is favorable and shows an increasing impact on adhesion energy.