Fabrication of high speed steel electrodes with MoSi2–MoB–HfB2 ceramic additives for electrospark deposition on die steel

The electrodes for electrospark deposition (ESD) were fabricated from hot-pressed blanks composed of a mechanically alloyed powder mixture of R6M5K5 high speed steel. This mixture was enriched with a 40 % addition of heat-resistant MoSi₂–MoB–HfB₂ ceramics, produces through the self-propagating high-temperature synthesis method (resulting in the R6M5K5-K electrode), as well as variant without any ceramic addition (resulting in the R6M5K5 electrode). We examined both the composition and structure of the electrode materials and the coatings derived from them, identifying the characteristics of mass transfer from hot-pressed electrodes to substrates of 5KhNM die steel under various frequencies and energy conditions during processing. The R6M5K5 electrode consists of an α-Fe-based matrix incorporating dissolved alloying elements and contains discrete particles of ferrovanadium, tungsten carbide, and molybdenum. The R6M5K5-K electrode, in addition to the α-Fe-based matrix, includes borides and carbides, as well as hafnium oxide. The use of the R6M5K5 electrode resulted in a consistent weight increase in the cathode throughout the entire 10-minute processing period. In contrast, the application of the ceramicenhanced electrode led to weight gain only during the initial 3 min of processing. Subsequently, ESD produced coatings of 22 and 50 μm thickness on the surface of 5KhNM steel using R6M5K5 and R6M5K5-K electrodes, respectively. The introduction of SHS ceramics escalated the roughness (Ra) of the surface layers from 6 to 13 μm and the hardness from 9.1 to 15.8 GPa. The coating from the R6M5K5 electrode was composed of austenite (γ-Fe) and exhibited high uniformity. Conversely, the coating from the R6M5K5-K electrode consisted of a diverse matrix with both crystalline and amorphous iron, an amorphous phase rooted in the Fe–B alloy, and scattered phases of HfO₂, HfSiO₄, Fe₃Si, and Fe₃B. High-temperature tribological testing at 500 °C in an air atmosphere showed that the coatings possess a friction coefficient of 0.55–0.57 when coupled with a counterbody of AISI 440C steel. The integration of heat-resistant ceramics notably enhanced the coating's wear resistance, increasing it by a factor of 13.5.

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