Nickel-aluminides/steel clad pipe fabricated by reactive centrifugal casting method from liquid aluminum and solid nickel

A novel method to produce an aluminide/steel clad pipe has been proposed. The method is based on a combination of the self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) reaction and centrifugal casting, and is named the reactive centrifugal casting method. Nickel powder was placed on a rotating steel pipe, and aluminum liquid was poured into the steel pipe. The aluminum liquid and nickel powder exothermically reacted and produced a composite layer consisting of nickel aluminides on the inner surface of the steel pipe. The heat generated by the exothermic reaction melted the inner surface of the steel pipe and bonded the composite layer to the steel. It was found that increases in centrifugal force generated by rotating the steel pipe, the pouring temperature of the aluminum, and the preheating temperature of the nickel and steel remarkably promote the reaction between nickel and aluminum. In addition, the amounts of initial aluminum and nickel were found to play an important role in controlling the microstructure of the composite layer. Thus, the aluminide/steel clad pipe can be successfully fabricated by the proposed reactive centrifugal casting method.