Cold Spray Deposition of a WC-25Co Cermet onto Al7075-T6 and Carbon Steel Substrates

The main objective of this study is to determine the optimum conditions for cold spraying a WC-Co nanopowder on aluminum alloy and carbon steel substrates. XRD tests were run on the powder and coatings to determine if phase changes occurred during spraying. Coating samples were evaluated via adhesion, corrosion, and wear testing. Cold spraying proved to be very competitive with conventional thermal spray techniques, producing thick, dense, hard WC-Co coatings on steel as well as aluminum with excellent tribological and electrochemical properties.