Abstract
In the present investigation, thermally enhanced kinetic spraying of titanium onto mild steel substrates is carried out in conjunction with powder preheating to obtain a dense coating using low-cost nitrogen as the process gas. Prior to this, a prototype model was developed for process optimization based on numerically approximated adhesion factors. The simulation results show that adiabatic shear instability accelerated by thermal energy and subsequent particle impact leads to the formation of an enhanced thermal boost-up zone that closely correlates with deposition behavior and coating properties. It is thus shown that the deposition efficiency of titanium can be more than 90% and porosity less than 1% when nitrogen gas is used for cold spraying.
