Effect of Helium Doping on Boron Carbide Coatings Prepared by Radio Frequency Inductive Coupled Plasma Spraying

SU Yi; WU Xi; HU Juan; ZHAO Peng; ZHU Hailong

doi:10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2025.13.019

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Surface Technology ›› 2025, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (13) : 214-224. DOI: 10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2025.13.019

Thermal Spraying and Cold Spraying Technology

Effect of Helium Doping on Boron Carbide Coatings Prepared by Radio Frequency Inductive Coupled Plasma Spraying

SU Yi^1,2, WU Xi², HU Juan², ZHAO Peng², ZHU Hailong^1*

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Abstract

Radio frequency inductive coupled plasma spraying (RF-ICPS) is one of the most advanced plasma spraying methods in the world, and helium (He) is an effective method to improve the coating properties. The work aims to prepare boron carbide (B₄C) coatings on the surface of first-wall materials (W), and systematically investigate the effects of helium (He) volume fraction on the surface morphology and composition of the coatings through experimental characterization and numerical simulation. High-performance first-wall materials are particularly important for the operation of fusion reactors. In this study, B₄C coatings were prepared by RF-ICPS under controlled atmosphere at atmospheric pressure, and the effects of He volume fraction in the plasma working gas on the surface morphology and composition of the coatings were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), with special attention paid to the effects on the porosity. At the same time, the interaction between the plasma and the particles during the spraying process was analyzed with three-dimensional numerical simulation, which revealed the intrinsic mechanism of the He volume fraction affecting the coating preparation through the change of the plasma property parameters in the experimental process. The experimental results showed that the particles could only be partially melted before He was added, and the raw material powders were all aggregated particles, most of which reached the substrate and could not spread well, and the coating porosity was as high as 13.2%. When the He volume fraction increased to 7.2%, the surface of the coating was flat, most of the particles could be melted, and a large number of particles were involved in the slat formation process, and the coating porosity was reduced to 1.1%. Meanwhile, the XRD results showed that He improved the heating effect of the particles and accelerated the evaporation of C and SiC in the pristine powder, which effectively removed the impurity components and enhanced the purity of the coating. The simulation results showed that the proportion of He in the plasma working gas not only had the effect of increasing the thermal conductivity of the plasma in the preparation of B₄C coatings by RF-ICPS, but also increased the enthalpy of the plasma. When the He volume fraction increased from 0% to 7.2%, the maximum value of enthalpy increased from 7.2 MJ/kg to 10 MJ/kg, which was 38% higher relative to that before He was added. At the same time, the heating and melting effect of the particles was obviously improved, and the temperature of the particles reached over 2 800 K in 65.5% of the cases when the He volume fraction increased to 7.2%, whereas only 20% of the particles had a temperature over 2 800 K before the addition of He. The simulation and experimental results further confirm that the addition of He to the RF plasma significantly improves the melting effect of B₄C particles in the plasma, which contributes to the formation of a denser, low porosity coating structure. These studies serve as an important guide and reference for the optimization of process parameters for the preparation of high-quality B₄C coatings by inductively coupled plasma.

Key words

radio frequency inductive coupled plasma / boron carbide coating / He / numerical simulation

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SU Yi, WU Xi, HU Juan, ZHAO Peng, ZHU Hailong. Effect of Helium Doping on Boron Carbide Coatings Prepared by Radio Frequency Inductive Coupled Plasma Spraying[J]. Surface Technology. 2025, 54(13): 214-224 https://doi.org/10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2025.13.019

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Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (11875039); Research Project Supported by Shanxi Scholarship Council of China (2023-033); Fundamental Research Program of Shanxi Province (202303021221071); Anhui Province Major Industrial Innovation Program (AHZDCYCX-LSDT2023-01)