As a key component of hydropower system, the performance and reliability of hydropower forgings have an important impact on the operating efficiency and stability of hydropower stations. Wear resistance is one of the important performance indexes of hydroelectric forgings, which directly affects its service life. Surface strengthening technology is one of the effective means to improve the wear resistance of hydropower forgings. This paper will introduce the wear resistance and surface strengthening technology of hydropower forgings.
Influencing factors of wear-resisting properties of hydroelectric forgings
The wear resistance of hydroelectric forgings is affected by many factors, including hardness, toughness, fatigue resistance and so on. Hardness is a measure of the hardness of the material index, the higher the hardness, the better the wear resistance. However, too high hardness will cause the material to increase brittleness and reduce toughness, thus affecting its reliability. Therefore, in the selection of materials, it is necessary to consider the hardness and toughness. Fatigue resistance refers to the ability of the material to resist fatigue fracture under cyclic load, which also has an important impact on the wear resistance of hydropower forgings.
Surface strengthening technique
Surface strengthening technology refers to the treatment of the surface of a material through physical, chemical or composite methods to change its surface morphology and properties, so as to improve its wear resistance. Common surface strengthening techniques include heat treatment, coating technology, chemical heat treatment, etc.
Heat treatment is to adjust the internal structure of the material by controlling the heating and cooling conditions to improve its wear resistance. Common heat treatment methods include quenching, tempering, carburizing and so on. The coating technology is to coat the surface of the material with a coating with high wear resistance to enhance its wear resistance. Common coating materials include cemented carbide, ceramics, polymer materials, etc. Chemical heat treatment is to change the composition and structure of the material surface by chemical reaction to improve its wear resistance. Common chemical heat treatment methods include nitriding, carburizing and so on.
The practice of surface strengthening technology for hydroelectric forgings
In practical application, surface strengthening technology has a remarkable effect on improving the wear resistance of hydropower forgings. The following is an example: the turbine blades of a hydropower station are severely worn, resulting in a decrease in power generation efficiency. In order to solve this problem, a new surface strengthening technology – plasma spraying is used.
Plasma spraying is a high temperature and high speed coating technology, which can spray high hardness and high wear resistance materials on the surface of the blade to form a dense protective layer and improve its wear resistance. After plasma spraying treatment, the turbine blades show good wear resistance and stability in actual operation, and the power generation efficiency has been significantly improved.
In addition, plasma spraying also has the advantages of fast processing speed, stable coating quality and wide application range, so it has a wide application prospect in the surface strengthening of hydropower forgings.
Wear resistance is one of the important performance indexes of hydroelectric forgings, which directly affects its service life. Surface strengthening technology is one of the effective means to improve the wear resistance of hydroelectric forgings. This paper introduces the wear resistance and surface strengthening technology of hydroelectric forgings, including the influencing factors, types of surface strengthening technology and practical cases.
By considering hardness and toughness comprehensively, selecting suitable surface strengthening technology can significantly improve the wear resistance and stability of hydroelectric forgings, and extend their service life. With the continuous development of science and technology, there will be more surface strengthening technologies and applications in the future, providing more possibilities for the performance improvement and reliability guarantee of hydropower forgings. Therefore, we should continue to pay attention to the development trend and application prospects of surface strengthening technology, and promote its application in fields such as hydropower forgings to promote the sustainable development of hydropower generation.
