Abstract
Cold spraying was applied to deposit Ti2AlC on different substrate materials. The study of single impacts by scanning electron microscopy indicates that bonding of the first layer is mainly attributed to the deformation and shear instabilities of the substrates. Nevertheless, the irregularly shaped particles appear to flatten by the impact. This deformation seems to be attributed to local, internal shear, but also to internal fracture. By applying up to five passes under more sophisticated spray parameters, Ti2AlC - coatings with thicknesses of about 110 to 155 µm can be achieved. XRD analysis of the coating proves that the crystallographic structure of the feedstock can be retained during cold spraying. The coating microstructures show rather low porosity, but several cracks between spray layers. Successful build-up of more than one monolayer can probably be attributed to internal deformation and occurring shear instabilities within the highly anisotropic Ti2AlC - phase.
