For the application of thermally sprayed titanium coatings, the high oxygen affinity and tendency to nitride formation in the presence of nitrogen represents a major challenge. Consequently, thermally sprayed titanium coatings are usually applied by cold gas spraying, vacuum plasma spraying and shrouded spraying processes. Nevertheless, the formation of oxides cannot be completely avoided with these methods. The pre-sent study demonstrates an alternative coating strategy for the application of oxide and nitride free thermally sprayed titanium coatings. Thereby, the previous limitations are overcome by transferring the coating process into a silane-doped argon gas environment to achieve an extremely low oxygen and nitrogen partial pressure. Thus, the created titanium coatings are oxide and nitride free and have an extremely low porosity. Moreover, by transferring of the corundum blasting process to this environment, the native oxide layer on the substrate surface can be removed and its reformation is suppressed. This results in full material bonding conditions with extremely high adhesive tensile strengths.

Titanium porous transport layers (PTL) are important components in proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) cells. The performance enhancement and the reduction of manufacturing cost of PTLs are of importance for market expansion of PEMWE. Vacuum plasma spraying (VPS) was used to prepare PTL or modify PTL of sintered titanium powders and the PTLs by VPS showed a high performance. Regarding the cost efficiency, it is of great interest to produce PTLs using more economical spray processes than VPS. In this study, high velocity oxy-fuel spraying (HVOF) was used to produce highly porous titanium coatings for this purpose. The spray process was developed to achieve a high porosity of up to Φ = 30 % using three titanium powders with size distributions of fA = -90 +45 μm, fB = -63 +20 μm and fc = -45 +11 μm. The coating structures were examined on the cross sections of the titanium coatings with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The porosity was determined using the image analysis system ImageJ. The deposition efficiency of the titanium powder fC = -45 +11 μm was determined. The results show that the coating structure significantly depends on the titanium powders. Highly porous titanium coatings of Φ = 24 - 40 % can be produced with the titanium powders of fB = -63 +20 μm and fc = -45 +11 μm. Titanium oxides are hardly visible on the cross-sections of the titanium coatings. A high deposition efficiency of approximately DP ≈ 70 % was measured for the titanium powder of fc = -45 +11 μm.

Cold spraying has great potential for additive manufacturing, especially of oxidation-sensitive metals, because the material is not melted and significantly higher deposition rates can be achieved than with conventional additive manufacturing processes such as selective laser melting or direct metal deposition. Titanium is regarded as a high-performance engineering material due to its unique combination of properties, including good corrosion resistance, biocompatibility and high strength at comparatively low density. However, due to its high price, it appears reasonable for many applications to use material compounds in which titanium is only used on the surface of the workpiece, while less expensive materials such as aluminum are used for the remaining volume. In the present work, cold sprayed pure titanium coatings were deposited on Al substrates and then formed to defined 3-dimensional final contours by die forging and rotary swaging. Different porosities were selectively set in order to evaluate their influence on the coating adhesion and cohesion in the forming process. Pre-consolidation of the coatings and the use of Al/Ti interlayers proved to be promising strategies.

Nanomodified plasma-sprayed titanium coatings have been shown in various studies to improve the early osseointegration of orthopedic implants, although little attention has been paid to the interactions that occur between coating surfaces and osteoblast cells. The aim of this study is to determine how surface structure influences cytoskeleton distribution and cellular differentiation and to assess the role of topography in regulating osteogenic fate. The results show that synergistic effects are achieved on hierarchically structured surfaces, with better cell spreading on nanotexture and multidimensional cytoskeleton distribution occurring over rough macroporous structure. Evidence of greater cytoskeleton reorganization and higher intracellular tension was also revealed.

This study assesses the strength and adherence of VPS titanium coatings on ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) substrates. Four-point bend tests show the existence of a critical tensile strain of 1% corresponding to the onset of cracking. For strains up to 6%, crack density increases with no observed debonding. Fatigue tests over 106 cycles reveal that the coating remains uncracked at a strain of 1% and stays in a stable cracked state without debonding as strain is increased to approximately 6%. A laser shock test developed specifically for titanium-polymer interfaces revealed the existence of a debonding threshold corresponding to the adhesion strength. The results serve as a guide for the design of orthopedic implants on which VPS titanium coatings are used and, more generally, open the way for systematic measurement of adhesion between metallic coatings and polymer substrates.

In this present work, investigators determine how particle temperature, combustion pressure, and heat treatment affect the porosity, oxide content, and tensile properties of warm-sprayed titanium. Coatings were deposited with nitrogen flow rates ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 m 3 /min and combustion pressures of 1 and 4 MPa. Optimal coating properties were found for specimens formed at a nitrogen flow rate of 0.75 m 3 /min and a combustion pressure of 4 MPa. Post-spray heat treatment was found to improve bonding between deposited particles, significantly increasing the strength and ductility of the titanium coatings.

This paper presents a summary of some of the research conducted on sponge-like titanium coatings developed for orthopedic use. It assesses the pore structure, adhesion properties, and in-vitro and in-vivo biological characteristics of porous titanium coatings deposited by vacuum plasma spraying on metals, PEEK polymer, and two bioceramics, Mg-toughened ZrO 2 and ZrO 2 -toughened Al 2 O 3 . The plasma sprayed coatings show good flexibility in terms of pore size (100-800 µm), overall porosity (40-70%), and coating thickness (600-1500 µm).

This study investigates the effects of gas composition on cold-sprayed titanium coatings deposited under nine different spray conditions. Experiments show that higher levels of gas purity translate to higher particle velocities and measurable improvements in bending strength. The influence of gas temperature, pressure, and chemical composition is considered in the study along with interactions between carrier gases and sprayed particles. In addition to bending strength, the resulting coatings are assessed in terms of porosity and oxygen content.

Ceramic tiles are widely used as ballistic armor due to their ability to absorb high specific impact energy. However, ceramic materials often exhibit very low ductility and have a tendency to exhibit multiple fractures in spider-web patterns around the point of impact. One method used to introduce ductility is to encapsulate the tile in a metal jacket, or to provide a strongly adhered metallic backing plate. Aluminum and titanium metals are of primary interest to decrease the overall weight of the armor material system. The low temperature Kinetic Metallization (KM) process allows direct deposition of the metals onto the ceramic tiles. This is not possible with thermal spray processes due to the extreme mismatch in thermal expansion and adverse metallic-ceramic chemical reactions at high temperatures. Kinetic Metallization has been used to deposit aluminum and titanium coatings onto silicon carbide (SiC) and proprietary ceramic matrix composite (CMC) tiles. Ballistic testing of coated tiles has shown decreased fracturing of the armor material, leading to improved performance for subsequent impacts.

In the past years a number of publications reported about Titanium coatings cold sprayed with a nominal power input between 17 to 47 KW (e. g Kinetiks 4000) reaching gas temperatures of maximum 850 °C and gas pressure of maximum 4 MPa. In a recent study at Helmut-Schmidt University (HSU), a Kinetiks 8000 prototype was used to spray titanium, employing a nominal power of about 92 KW to increase the gas temperature up to 1000°C at a pressure of 4 MPa. Under these parameters, a high tensile strength of over 480 MPa and a deposition efficiency (DE) close to 100% were achieved. The present study focuses on further enhanced gas and particle velocities by optimized nozzle designs. The increased particle velocities in comparison to that obtained by using commercial nozzles (types 24, 51) result in better coating performance and allow deviations from ideal (90°) impact angle without significantly reducing coating strength. The influences of process conditions are evaluated and discussed on the basis of coating strengths by Micro Flat Tensile and Tubular Coating Tensile tests, as well as electrical conductivities, nitrogen and oxygen contents.

This research systematically examines the effect of heat treatment on the microstructural properties of cold sprayed titanium coatings. Heat treatments were performed on as-sprayed coatings at 200, 400, 600, and 800°C for four hours under argon atmosphere. Vickers microhardness, microstructural investigation using FEG-SEM, structural characterization using XRD, and porosity evaluation using SEM image analysis were performed on as-sprayed and heat treated coatings. Results demonstrated that static recovery and static recrystallization may have occurred for heat treated coatings at 600 and 800°C. In addition, for the heat treated coating at 800°C, significant oxidation occurred and a slight decrease in porosity took place. Furthermore, a thin metallic layer characteristic of a solid solution or an intermetallic compound, was found at the coating/substrate interface.

Thick titanium coatings were prepared by warm spraying (WS) and cold spraying (CS) process to investigate the oxidation and microstructure of the coating layers. Prior to the coating formations, the temperature and velocity of in-flight titanium powder particle were numerically calculated. Significant oxidation occurred in WS process using higher gas temperature conditions with low nitrogen flow rate, which is mixed to the flame jet of an HVOF spray gun in order to control the temperature of the propellant gas. Oxidation, however, decreased strikingly as the nitrogen flow rate increased. In CS process using nitrogen or helium as a propellant gas, little oxidation was observed. Although most of the cross-sections of the coating layers prepared by conventional mechanical polishing looked dense, coating cross sections prepared by an ion-milling method revealed the actual microstructures containing small pores and unbounded interfaces between deposited particles. Even when scanning electron microscopy or x-ray diffraction method did not detect oxides in the coating layers by WS using high nitrogen flow rate or CS using helium, the inert gas fusion method revealed minor increase of oxygen content below 0.3 wt%.

Fundamental properties of Titanium coating prepared by low temperature HVOF process aided by injection of water had been published by our research group. The results showed that low temperature HVOF process provided as a good means for the deposition of comparatively dense Ti coating, however the interconnected pores observed in Ti coating degraded corrosion resistance of Ti coating, therefore it was necessary to manufacture denser Ti coating. Two processes were respectively applied for the densification of Ti coating. One process was to perform post heat treatment for as-sprayed Ti coating with conventional Ti powder as feedstock. The other process was to modify thermal spray powder. Ti powder mixing with spherical glass powder was used to deposit denser Ti coating as a result of shot peening effect of hard glass powder. Finally the corrosion resistance for densified Ti coatings was evaluated by electrochemical characterization.

This paper reports on the influence of the He to N 2 ratio on the properties of low pressure cold sprayed titanium coatings and on the characteristics of the generated supersonic two-phase flow. Experiments were carried out varying the He to N 2 concentration ranging from pure He to pure N 2 . Samples were characterized by their microstructural properties (i.e. microhardness and porosity). Deposition rate was evaluated and particle velocities were measured for all conditions. Deposition efficiency, coating density, and microhardness were found to be a function of particle impact velocity. Velocity data were used to validate a computational fluid dynamic model. The numerical solution of the flow inside the nozzle was obtained from the Euler equations for the various He to N 2 concentrations. Particle tracking was carried out by using the computed distribution of density, Mach number, temperature, viscosity, and a second order Runge-Kutta scheme. In addition, mean particle velocities at the exit of the nozzle were determined. Computed velocities were found to be in good agreement with measured ones. The model was then used to calculate nozzle dimensions that would maximize particle velocity. Optimized dimensions are proposed.

Titanium and titanium alloy coatings have high potential for applications in several industrial fields such as aerospace, bio-medical and chemical industries. Its eligibility for each single application depends on physical, chemical and mechanical properties. Cold spray as a deposition technique for titanium coating is growing because there is no need for vacuum or protective atmospheres. The properties of cold spray titanium coatings can be tailored by controlling and optimizing the process parameters. In this study the effect of the gas pressure and temperature on the deposition process and the coatings properties were examined. Cold spray CP-titanium coatings were produced using nitrogen as propellant gas at different gas pressures (from 2.0 MPa to 3.5 MPa) and temperatures (from 400°C to 800°C). Morphology and the microstructure of the CP titanium powder and coatings were studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and light optical microscope (LOM). Micro-hardness measurements and oxygen and nitrogen contents of titanium powder and the coatings were performed. As a final step, residual stress analysis of deposits were measured by means of X-ray diffraction.

This study investigated the effect of the type of gas used, nitrogen and helium, during cold spraying of titanium coatings. In all conditions, the propelling gases’ temperature and pressure were attuned to attain three similar particle velocities for each gas. Coatings were characterized by SEM and XPS. Deposition efficiency, coating microhardness, and porosity were evaluated for all conditions. Results show that for the same particle impact velocity, the deposition efficiency and coating density were mostly the function of the surface temperature, which in turn was influenced by spray parameters. It is shown that loosely-bonded particles at the surface can be detached by the passage of high pressure supersonic gas stream. In addition, a thick and fully dense cold sprayed titanium coating was achieved with optimized spray parameters with He and the corresponding average particle velocity was measured at 1173 m/s.

This paper describes and evaluates the performance of a Helium Recovery System (HRS) designed for cold spraying. A flexible, automated, full scale HRS system has been designed and installed in the McGill Aerospace Materials & Alloy Development Center Cold Spray Facility, located at and in collaboration with the National Research Council of Canada. The fully automated HRS has been designed to recover helium from the cold spray chamber with sufficient purity (>99%) and flow capacity (5 to 220 Nm 3 /h), allowing for a cost-effective operation by insuring a recovery rate of above 85%. In addition, a comparison of titanium coating properties obtained by using both He and N 2 as propellant gas is presented.

Cold spraying has a high potential for building up thick coatings or structures, like for rapid prototyping or production of free-standing parts. This method is particularly interesting for high strength materials that are difficult to process or to shape, e.g. Titanium for special applications in aviation industries. In this contribution, the two major challenges are addressed: (I) optimizing mechanical properties by systematic variation of process parameters, and (ii) evaluating the influence of the spray angle with respect to complex geometries as requested by aviation industry. While in the past, high quality titanium coatings were only achieved using Helium as process gas, Nitrogen is used in this study to reduce costs. High deposition efficiencies of more than 95 % can be obtained and the coatings show very low porosities as well as high tensile strength of over 480 MPa. The influence of process conditions on the mechanical properties is discussed on the basis of coating microstructures, Micro Flat Tensile (MFT) and Tubular Coating Tensile tests (TCT-test).

Titanium exhibits very good corrosion resistance property because of the formation of very dense oxide coating. Especially the good corrosion against Cl- solution for titanium material makes it wide applications in sea industry. It is very difficult to deposit titanium coating under atmospheric condition due to the strong affinity with oxygen and nitrogen especially in high temperature plume. Except the expensive LPPS process, much attention has been paid to the newly developed cold spraying. Unfortunately the stringent requirement for the starting power and low production efficiency limit the application of the cold spraying. A modified HVOF process was developed by reducing the outlet diameter of chamber and by directly introducing water into chamber, therefore lower plume temperature and higher chamber pressure than conventional HVOF process can be achieved. Attempts to deposit Titanium coating were carried out, and immersion of Titanium coated A3 steel into artificial seawater was performed in order to evaluate the density of as-sprayed Titanium coating. The results showed that dense Titanium coating could be obtained after parameter optimization and very few corrosion spot was observed on the surface of Titanium coated A3 steel after immersion into artificial seawater for 120 h.

This work investigates the influence of nitrogen gas pressure and temperature on the structure and properties of cold sprayed titanium coatings. Two guns were used to assess the effect of impinging particle temperature. Particle speed was measured and used to calculate critical velocity for selected experimental conditions. The results show that increasing the temperature and pressure of the gas propellant reduces coating porosity and increases hardness, flattening ratio, and deposition efficiency. At the maximum pressure and temperature (40 bar and 800 °C) for nitrogen gas, coating density was close to the value reported for cold sprayed titanium produced using helium as the propellant.