Material wire for producing surface coatings and method of using same

Abstract

A material wire for producing wear-resistant and tribologically favorable surface coatings from a supereutectic Al/Si alloy by thermal spraying. The material wire is a filling wire that has a sheath made of metallic aluminum and a filling made of one or more additional alloy components.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A material wire for producing wear-resistant and tribologically favorable surface coatings from a supereutectic Al/Si alloy by thermal spraying, comprising: 
 a sheath comprising metallic aluminum; and    a filling comprising one or more alloy components.    
     
     
         2 . A material wire according to  claim 1 , wherein the filling comprises silicon and at least one element selected from the group consisting of nickel, iron, magnesium, copper, cobalt, chromium, manganese, tin, zinc, and zirconium.  
     
     
         3 . A material wire according to  claim 2 , wherein the quantity of silicon is such that the Al/Si alloy contains approximately 17-40 wt. % silicon.  
     
     
         4 . A material wire according to  claim 1 , wherein the filling further comprises at least one additional component selected from the group consisting of hard metal particles, ceramic particles, and dry lubricants.  
     
     
         5 . A material wire according to  claim 1 , wherein the filling comprises less than 1 wt. % copper.  
     
     
         6 . A material wire according to  claim 1 , wherein the filling comprises less than 0.1 wt. % copper.  
     
     
         7 . A material wire according to  claim 1 , wherein the filling comprises less than 0.01 wt. % copper.  
     
     
         8 . A material wire according to  claim 1 , wherein the filling comprises: 
 an agglomerated composite powder made of silicon particles; and    metallic particles of at least one aluminum-silicon alloy that are bonded together by a binder.    
     
     
         9 . A material wire according to  claim 8 , wherein said binder is selected from the group consisting of an inorganic binder, an organic binder; and combinations thereof.  
     
     
         10 . A material wire according to  claim 8 , wherein the quantity of silicon particles is 5 to 95 wt. % and the quantity of alloy particles is 50 to 95 wt. %.  
     
     
         11 . A material wire according to  claim 8 , wherein the silicon particles have an average grain size of 0.1 to 10 μm.  
     
     
         12 . A material wire according to  claim 8 , wherein the silicon particles have an average grain size of 5 μm.  
     
     
         13 . A material wire according to  claim 8 , wherein the alloy particles have an average grain size of 0.1 to 50 μm.  
     
     
         14 . A material wire according to  claim 8 , wherein the alloy particles have an average grain size of approximately 5 μm.  
     
     
         15 . A material wire according to  claim 8 , wherein the alloy particles consist of a mixture of subeutectic alloy particles and supereutectic alloy particles.  
     
     
         16 . A method of forming a coating on a surface of a substrate, comprising: 
 melting a material wire according to  claim 1;     atomizing the molten material wire; and    coating the surface of a substrate.    
     
     
         17 . A method of forming a coating according to  claim 16 , wherein said method is by wire arc spraying or flame speed spraying.  
     
     
         18 . A cylinder bore of an internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder running surface having a coating that is thermally sprayed from a material wire according to  claim 1.