Investigation of a Pulsed Current Wire Arc Spray Process

In order to improve the wire arc spray process an inverter power source (PS) from gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process was used to evaluate the influence of current modulation on the formation of coating particles. Using the inverter PS allowed the application of high current pulses with varying amplitude and frequency. It was shown that particle formation can be limited to the high current phases, and that a strong interaction with the gas flow can be observed. The investigations suggest that using this technology new parameters may be introduced to control the wire arc spray process.