Apparatus and method for cooling a hard metal applied to the surface of a metal alloy substrate
AssigneeLiquidmetal Coatings LLC
InventorsHewy E. Jackson, Choongnyun Paul Kim, John Kang
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Abstract
An apparatus and related method for cooling a hard metal applied in a molten or semi-molten state to the surface of a metal substrate employ a chill block chilled by a cryogenic coolant conducted through a coolant passage in the chill block with at least one ejector port in communication with the coolant passage arranged to eject cryogenic coolant from the chill block onto the hand metal for further cooling the hard metal. An alloy steel substrate preheated to 300 to 600 degrees Fahrenheit has a hard metal applied thereto by an arc welding process.
Claims20
An apparatus for cooling a hard metal applied in a molten or semi-molten state to the surface of a workpiece, the apparatus comprising:
- a chill block formed of a heat-conducting material,
- a contact surface provided on the chill block for contacting the hard metal applied on the surface of the workpiece for cooling the hard metal,
- a coolant passage in the chill block for conducting a cryogenic coolant through the chill block to cool the chill block, and
- at least one ejector port in the chill block in communication with the coolant passage for ejecting cryogenic coolant from the chill block onto the hard metal for further cooling the hard metal,
- wherein the chill block includes a protrusion on which the contact surface is formed, the protrusion extending below the coolant passage and the contact surface being positioned below the at least one ejector port.
A method of improving the application of hard metal to the surface of an alloy steel substrate comprising:
- preheating the alloy steel substrate to a temperature within the range of 300 to 600 degrees Fahrenheit,
- applying the hard metal to the surface of the preheated alloy steel substrate as a weld bead applied by an arc welding process,
- rapidly cooling the weld bead utilizing a chill block in contact with the weld bead, wherein the utilizing the chill block comprises conducting a cryogenic coolant through a coolant passage in the chill block and ejecting the cryogenic coolant from an ejector port in the chill block across the width of the weld bead.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.