Mass transfer trends of AlCoCrFeNi high-entropy alloy coatings on TC11 substrate via electrospark − computer numerical control deposition

A new electrospark deposition (ESD) process, electrospark – computer numerical control deposition (ES-CNCD), was proposed based on an ES-computer integrated deposition system (ES-CIDS). The ES-CIDS integrated a 3-axis CNC milling machine with an ESD welder via a passive exsertile/retractable pattern special deposition holder. The ES-CNCD process employs high-current electrical pulses of short duration to modify the metal surface. In this work, an AlCoCrFeNi high-entropy alloy (HEA) was used as the electrode to prepare HEA coatings on TC11 titanium alloy substrate via weld-spot pattern deposition strategy. Three quantities of cathode mass gain (CMG), anode mass gain (AMG) and material transfer coefficient (MTC) were redefined for ES-CNCD process. The impact of process parameters on CMG, AMG, MTC was investigated via designing orthogonal experiments. The physical mode of mass transfer of ES-CNCD process has been proposed and confirmed by experiments.