A key technology to minimize CO 2 -emissions is the production of hydrogen from water electrolysis. The proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) consists of a stacked system out of bipolar plates (BPP), porous transport layers (PTL) and a membrane electrode assembly (MEA). Research activities are ongoing to minimize material input, reduce costs and increase the performance. For example, the BPP on the anodic side of the stack is currently manufactured of bulk titanium and its substitution by a Ti-coated steel substrate is economically interesting. The main requirements for the BPP-coating are a high coating density, a low electrical resistance and a long lifetime in a harsh electrochemical environment. Coating application on substrates of s ≤ 0.5 mm thickness is conducted with three thermal spraying technologies: Cold Gas Spraying (CGS), High Velocity Air-Fuel (HVAF) spraying and High Velocity Oxy-Fuel (HVOF). Substrate preparation is examined as well. Coating development is conducted with regards to coating thickness, density and oxidation. The examination of coatings includes roughness analysis, structural and chemical analysis. The results allow an evaluation of the suitability of thermally sprayed Ti-coatings by the structural properties for the PEMWE application. Among the three tested processes, CGS is the most suitable for this type of application. The three chosen thermal spraying processes are examined for coating application on metal sheets in context of PEMWE for the first time.

The polymer cold spray (CS) process has been demonstrated as a promising coating and repair technique for fiber-reinforced polymer composites (FRPs). However, a noticeable variation in coating thickness (herein referred to as checkerboard pattern) often occurs in the initial (bond) layer of low-pressure CS deposition. The checkerboard pattern occurs due to essentially periodic variations in matrix thickness above the subsurface fiber weave pattern. When the bond layer exhibits the so-called checkerboard pattern, the CS deposition for subsequent layers may be negatively affected in terms of deposition efficiency, porosity, adhesion, surface roughness, and surface thickness consistency. The present work compares results of both numerical simulations and experimental studies performed to reveal the governing mechanisms for and elimination of checker-boarding. Numerical single particle impact simulations are conducted to observe various thermomechanical domains for CS impact on the FRP surface in different regions of the composite material. Complementary experimental CS studies of exemplar powders onto FRPs with various surface interlayer thicknesses are also presented. Experimental analyzes of deposits include microstructural observations to compare against the simulations while also providing practical strategies for the elimination of checkerboarding effects.

Design, manufacturing, and utilization of efficient heating systems for pipelines and closed-pressure equipment are necessary for cold regions to compensate for heat loss and prevent damages that are caused by freezing of the enclosed liquid. Given large-scale financial losses that stem from failure and bursting of the pipes, the development of novel, efficient, and affordable heaters, which can lead to improved efficiency, cost savings, and environmental benefits across various industries and applications, is of crucial importance. Heating systems have already been produced via different high-temperature thermal spraying techniques to achieve higher efficiency compared to conventional heating cables. In this study, tin, as the heating element, was deposited by using the cold spray process onto alumina coating that was fabricated by flame spraying (FS) to provide electrical insulation. Techno-economic assessment of fabrication and utilization of the coating-based heaters was conducted. It was found that cold-sprayed heater coatings exhibit improved performance compared to other thermally sprayed heater coatings and conventional heater cables. Further, their fabrication and utilization were more economically feasible. The results suggest that the new generations of coating-based heating systems may be competitive with conventional heat tracers that are widely used in industry.

In cold gas spraying, successful bonding occurs when particle impact velocities exceed the critical velocity. The critical velocity formula depends on material properties and temperature upon impact, relying mainly on tabulated data of bulk material. However, rapid solidification of powder particles during gas atomization can result in strengths up to twice that of bulk materials, causing an underestimation of the critical velocity. Thus, a re-adjustment of the semi-empirical calibration constants could supply a more accurate prediction of the requested spray conditions for bonding. Using copper and aluminum as examples, experimentally determined particle strengths for various particle sizes were 43% and 81% higher than those of the corresponding soft bulk materials. Cold gas spraying was performed over a wide range of parameter sets, achieving deposition efficiencies ranging from 2% to 98%. Deposition efficiencies were plotted as functions of particle impact velocities and temperatures, as calculated by a fluid dynamic approach. By using deposition efficiencies of 50%, the critical velocities of the different powders and the corresponding semi-empirical constants were determined. Based on particle strengths, the results reveal slight material-dependent differences in the mechanical pre-factor. This allows for a more precise description of individual influences by particle strengths on critical velocities and thus coating properties. Nevertheless, the general description of the critical velocity based on bulk data with generalized empirical constants still proves to be a good approximation for predicting required parameter sets or interpreting achieved coating properties.

Tantalum and silver are recognized for their outstanding biocompatibility and antibacterial ability, respectively. However, owing to their distinct chemical and physical properties, synthesizing alloys and composites by using Ta and Ag presents a considerable challenge. In this study, Ta-Ag composites, exhibiting good antibacterial ability, were successfully produced by using a solid-state cold spray technique. Notably, intriguing correlations were observed between Ag microstructure and antibacterial ability. To unravel this correlation, a comprehensive experimental and simulation analyze were conducted. It is found that the volume ratio of Ta to Ag in the feedstock powder result in different deformation histories for Ag during the cold spray process. This, in turn, leads to the formation of distinctive Ag microstructures within Ta-Ag composites. The varied Ag microstructures results in different Ag dissolution ability and the formation of an insoluble AgCl layer exhibiting varying morphologies, when Ag exposed in a high chorine ion environment, like in human body fluids. This consequently influences the concentration of Ag ion and ultimately determines antibacterial ability. The study demonstrates that Ag release rate and the related antibacterial properties could be alternatively controlled by changing Ag contains or by creating different deposition process by adjusting CS parameter.

Robot-guided cold spraying is currently developing as a technique with great potential for the repair of metallic components, particularly for depositing heat- and oxidation-sensitive materials. In this regard, the use of automation and robotics enables flexible control of the repair process. To ensure an optimal repair process, it is essential to consider the various requirements of robot-guided cold spraying already during the simulative planning phase. However, conventional robotic repair trajectories often do not fully consider the geometric constraints of material deposition, efficient material use, and the underlying limitations of robot kinematics. This work proposes the application of trajectory optimization by mathematical optimization for repair by robot-guided cold spraying. In this context, the optimal repair strategy must handle the constant material flow by the spray jet, which inevitably couples local material deposition with the robot motion. For this purpose, decision variables, objective function, constraints and a material deposition model are formulated to control the amount of deposited material accordingly. The goal is to generate an optimized trajectory that incorporates the requirements of cold spraying and robot kinematics to guarantee high-quality repair and efficient material use. This includes minimizing excess material and minimizing the jerk of the robot motion. The results demonstrate successful application of the trajectory optimization for component repair by cold spraying.

Erosion-corrosion is a severe problem observed in the coal fired thermal power plant boilers which lead to premature failure of boiler tubes. Thermal spray coatings have been applied successfully to check the erosion-corrosion of boiler tubes. In the present research work NiCrTiCRe coating powders were successfully deposited on T22 boiler steel by two different coating processes i.e. high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) and cold spray process. The performance of the coatings in actual power plant boiler were investigated and compared. The uncoated and coated T22 boiler steels were subjected the superheater zone of the coal fired boiler for a total of 15 consequent cycles. The thickness loss data and weight change analysis were used to establish kinetics of the erosion-corrosion. X-ray diffraction, surface field emission scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive spectroscopy (FE-SEM/EDS) techniques were used in the present work for the analysis. The results of thickness loss data indicated that the cold sprayed coating performed better in thermal power plant boiler environment.

This contribution gives an overview concerning basic principles of cold spraying (CS) and current trends in respective applications. As powder spray technique dealing with solid impacts, cold spraying results in coatings of high purity and unique properties, not attainable by other spray methods. Particularly within the last two decades, cold spraying developed from laboratory scale to a reliable industrial process. The presentation summarizes current models and key parameters in order to achieve and to improve bonding and coating qualities, and gives examples for applications in electronics, mechanical part repair and additive manufacturing.

The US Navy has adopted High-Pressure Cold Spray (HPCS) as a repair technique for corroded and worn components in their fleet of aircrafts, ships, and submarines. HPCS repairs are not only used for depositing corrosion and wear resistant coatings but is being successfully used for dimensional restoration in metal parts and components. By utilizing HPCS, the Navy ensures the longevity and reliability of critical components, even in harsh environments. Whether safeguarding against corrosion or restoring worn parts, HPCS is playing an increasingly critical role in maintaining operational readiness for the US Navy and other DOD agencies, as well as the commercial industry.

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.

Bond coats are used to protect the superalloy from oxidation and to serve as a bond between the ceramic thermal barrier coating (TBC) layer and the superalloy. During high temperature exposures, a thermally grown oxide (TGO) layer forms between the bond coat and the topcoat due to oxygen diffusion, leading to coating failure in the components. This study aimed to investigate the microstructure evolution of three TBCs with different cold-sprayed bond coat alloys after undergoing isothermal heat treatments. The TBCs were heat treated at 1100 °C for durations of 12, 25, and 50 hours to observe the effects of temperature on the microstructure and phase distribution. The microstructure of heat-treated bond coat alloys was examined using scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. The findings are discussed in relation to the characteristics of the coating alloy and the application process.

Surface coatings play a pivotal role in enhancing mechanical and functional properties of various materials. High Entropy Alloy (HEA) annealed coatings have garnered significant interest due to their potential to improve wear resistance and overall durability. This research presents a comprehensive study focused on the characterization of HEA annealed coatings. It focuses on evaluating their roughness and wear performance. In this research, a systematic approach is adopted to assess the effects of annealing on coating surface properties. The investigation begins with the deposition of the Al 0.1-0.5 CoCrCuFeNi and MnCoCrCuFeNi coatings using a well-established cold spray (CS) technique, followed by a controlled annealing process. The coating surface roughness is analyzed using profilometry and microscopy techniques. This offers insights into the changes induced by annealing. The wear performance of the annealed coatings is evaluated through tribological tests.

Cold spray (CS) is a progressive method for the deposition of metals and alloys whose principles involve considerable plastic deformation of the produced material at extreme strain rates. Positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) is an analytical technique capable of studying deformation on the atomic scale level, even in extremely deformed materials. In our study, the PAS method was used to characterize the deformation character at the lattice level and quantify the open-volume defects in four cold sprayed metals: Al, Cu, Ni, and Ti. As counterparts, bulk samples of these materials with ultrafine-grained structures were also produced by high-pressure torsion (HPT), a process exceeding cold spray in the total deformation, but having several orders of magnitude smaller strain rates, and by a traditional cold rolling process. The results show that the CS and HPT processes lead to the formation of similar lattice defects (dislocations and vacancy clusters), and both exhibit significantly higher dislocation densities than conventionally cold-rolled materials. Further, the vacancy clusters present in CS and HPT materials were not present in the rolled counterparts due to the lower vacancy production rate.

By approaching the glass transition temperature it was possible to realize well quality metallic coatings on two different glasses using Cold Spray deposition, CS. A roughness is introduced on the glass surface and is proportional to the energy deposited. Using the thermal pressure memory effect of glass, Raman spectroscopy mapping allowed determining that the CS introduced a strong heterogeneity of the glass substrate characterized by zones with different cooling rate and residual stress. Using a simplified Eshelby's inclusion approach, it is demonstrated that the residual stress can be in first approximation explained by the introduction of local density fluctuation induced with high cooling rate of micrometric regions related with the impact of the deposited metallic particles.

Cold spray additive manufacturing (CSAM) is an emerging process that has garnered significant attention from researchers due to its unique advantages. These include higher deposition rates, no need for a protective atmosphere, and the ability to connect or combine dissimilar materials. While CSAM allows for near-net-shape fabrication of workpieces, the accuracy and properties of the final products often fall short of user requirements. Furthermore, there is an urgent need to develop a generalized manufacturing strategy for workpieces with complex geometries. It appears that integrating various processes throughout the entire manufacturing workflow, from design to delivery, could address these challenges. However, few researchers have explored this area. To fill this gap, this study presents an integrated modular CSAM system designed for efficient and flexible workpiece fabrication. The system comprises two main components: software for modeling and simulation, and hardware for precise fabrication, each containing multiple modules. These modules do not operate independently but are coupled through direct or indirect decentralized and event-driven physical links. The system described in this paper offers a generalized strategy for precision manufacturing of workpieces using CSAM, potentially advancing the field and addressing current limitations in accuracy and versatility.

Thermal spray (TS) technology has attracted the attention of numerous industrial sectors due to its apparent simplicity and versatility. It has been used across the world for over 80 years in the conservation and creation of art. Despite the creativity involved in the creation of an art piece, the TS artistic endeavors are limited and insufficiently explored. Unique material combinations, usually not observed in conventional engineering applications, can be achieved with TS technology. Although the material amalgamation possibilities are infinite, their combined deposited characteristics, interfacial compatibility and color palette require further study. In this work, the fields of photography, image processing and TS are combined to produce a large art-piece using the cold gas dynamic spray (CGDS) process. Aluminum, zinc, nickel, alumina, steel and titanium alloy powders are sprayed to replicate in three-dimensions a photograph of a crinoid from the Silurian period found on the Anticosti Island, located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada. The numerous steps required to produce the artistic 3D piece, namely numerical segmentation of the photograph, conversion to a computer-assisted design (CAD), manufacturing of steel masks and CGDS deposition of the selected powders to reach the sought color palette are described. Powder deposition efficiency, material compatibility and microstructural characteristics are analyzed. and the resulting art piece is presented.

Thick deposits were produced from pure Al powder of three different sieve sizes using cold spraying at the same process parameters. The in-plane mechanical and fracture properties of the deposits were investigated using bending of small specimens in four specimen orientations. It was shown that increasing the Al particle size by approximately 50% and 100% leads to small, but statistically significant differences of yield strength. Further, the increase in the powder particle size led to higher fracture toughness K IC but lower fatigue crack growth threshold ΔK thr . This can be attributed to two different fracture mechanisms in the cold sprayed deposits. A trans-particular fracture in the near-threshold fatigue regime is controlled by the microstructure and work hardening of the particles. At higher cyclic loads and in quasi-static regime, the particle decohesion and the resulting crack path determine the fracture behavior instead. However, the observed effect of particle size was rather small, much smaller than the effect of spray process parameters observed in the previous research.

Cold spray metallization of carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) has attracted increasing interest for potential applications in providing lightning strike protection (LSP) to aircraft. This study aims to assess the LSP performance of cold-sprayed copper and aluminum coatings on a Polyaryletherketone (PAEK)-based carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic polymer (CFRTP). Lightning strike tests with a peak current of 70 kA were performed on full-surface copper and aluminum coatings, and grid-patterned aluminum coatings. The lightning strike process was captured by a high-speed camera to investigate the fracture behavior of the cold-sprayed CFRTP specimens. Results revealed that the full-surface copper coating, which had higher electrical resistivity and was thinner than the aluminum coating, experienced explosive coating fractures. Conversely, the aluminum coating incurred less damage, effectively protecting the underlying CFRTP from lightning current without visible ply lift or carbon fiber fracture. Furthermore, grid-patterned aluminum coatings also exhibited LSP capabilities, with their denser mesh reducing both the area of coating fractures and the thermal damage to the CFRTP surface.

The deformation behavior of particles plays a significant role in achieving adhesion during cold spray. The deformation behavior of the particles is associated with the fracture of the oxide layer and recrystallization, which are the key elements of the quality of cold spray. Studies of particle compression have been made to understand the deformation behavior of a particle. However, the deformation behavior of particle under controlled load and precise and high strain rate is yet to be studied. Here, we show the oxide layer fracture pattern and recrystallization regime under controlled load with a precise and high strain rate. We found that the cracks in the oxide layer initially appeared on the equator of the particle and propagated towards the edge of the top surface. Meanwhile, on the top surface, the circumferential crack was developed. On the other hand, the nanoindentation result showed that the compressed particle under a high strain rate has an unusual load-displacement behavior. Our results demonstrate that the oxide layer fracture behavior corresponds to the adhesion mechanism suggested by previous studies. Our study also revealed that recrystallization takes place within the particle under a high strain rate. We anticipate this finding to give a general insight into the deformation behavior of particles during cold spray. For instance, since the recrystallization behavior at a given strain rate can be predicted through this study, the resultant grain size and shape, which is associated with mechanical properties, can also be predicted. Furthermore, the amount of strain and strain rate to form optimal adhesion can be evaluated.

Revealed as a process for surface functionalization and repair, cold spray is currently used as a reliable additive manufacturing process thanks to its ability to fabricate dense solid-state deposits with high deposition efficiency. However, cold-sprayed deposits generally present limited mechanical and structural properties due to manufacturing defects such as microporosities and weak interfacial particle bonding. As solutions, post-processing methods such as heat treatment or hot isostatic pressing are proposed to reduce manufacturing defects and optimize final deposit properties. This paper investigates the heat treatment effect on structural and mechanical features of cold sprayed 3D Aluminium part by comparing deposits properties evolution with the additive growth in the as sprayed and heat-treated states. Thus, a study is carried out to identify the right heat treatment conditions for optimizing deposits properties.