Effect of crystallization on the property of hard enamel coating on steel substrate

Crystallization treatment was conducted to improve hardness of an enamel coating on steel. Microstructure change of the enamel steel interface was observed. Phase transformation of the glassy enamel was analyzed, and adhesion of the enamel to steel was evaluated. As crystallization time increases, the as-fired enamel/steel interface roughens, protrudes to form anchor points and develops into dendrites growing into grain boundaries of the steel substrate. An adherence factor η is proposed to predict the adherence of the enamel/substrate interface metallographically. Microhardness of the enamel increases from 582HV0.05 as-fired to 991HV0.05 after crystallization treatment at 840 °C for 20 min, which is attributed to the transformation of the vitreous enamel into NaAlSi2O6 crystals during the crystallization treatment. Microstructure observation indicates that the white needle-like NaAlSi2O6 crystals in the as-fired glassy enamel matrix is increased in number and their morphology change from large aspect ratio into coarsened ones with increasing time at 840 °C crystallization treatment. The as-fired enamel coating exhibits an impact energy of 0.81 J, and the crystallization treatment at 840 °C increases impact energy of the enamel coating from 1.05 to 1.56 J with changing crystallization time from 5 to 20 min. A regression formula of impact energy associated with adherence factor is obtained to evaluate adhesion of the enamel to steel substrate on the basis of metallographic measurement. The aluminum melt corrosion resistance of the enamel is increased with increasing crystallization of its glassy matrix.