Light alloys are being investigated as an alternative to ferrous-based engineering components. The manufacturing of such components requires a surface modification step necessary to eliminate the top surface's poor wear and corrosion response for improved functionality. Thermally sprayed cermet coatings offer improved surface resistance to wear and/or corrosion. This work presents a customized composition of WC-CoCr feedstock cut in fine and coarse powder size distribution (PSD) to fabricate different coatings on aluminium alloy and steel substrates using two high velocity spray techniques. The WC-CoCr coatings sprayed using the high velocity air-fuel (HVAF) technique at varied parameters consist of six different coatings (four thick, ~ 200 μm and two thin ones, 60-80 μm) to investigate the relationship between processing conditions, microstructure, and performance. Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electro-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) offered a comprehensive characterization of the respective coatings. Micro indentation, dry sliding wear, dry sand abrasion, and cavitation erosion tests conducted on the samples show the performance of the coatings based on the processing techniques and spray conditions. However, despite the similarities in the microstructural makeup of the coatings and the measured micro indentation hardness of the coatings (1000-1300 HV0.1), their respective specific wear rate (SWR) varied based on spray processing techniques and the substrate on which the coatings were deposited. Three of the HVAF coatings showed ~ 60 % more wear on the aluminium alloy substrate compared to the same coating deposited on a steel substrate. However, irrespective of the substrate used the HVAF coatings showed better wear resistance than the HVOF coating. The dry sand abrasion wear results of the two thick HVAF coatings show them superior to the HVOF coating in the three-body wear experiment conducted. The cavitation erosion resistance of the coatings varied based on the processing conditions and the driving mechanisms but the best two were the AF-2 and AF-6 samples.

Twin wire arc is a commonly used thermal spray technology for application of steel coatings to cast iron components. Hardness and adhesion strength are critical properties of such coatings, and significant research is available reporting these properties. However, residual stresses and the anisotropic structure of the coatings leads to significantly different behavior in bending applications than in the purely tensile loading of the standard adhesion test. In addition, microstructural features that are controlled by certain process parameters during deposition of the coating can have a significant effect on these properties. This work seeks to relate the hardness and pull-off adhesion strength to the coating microstructure, and to assess the related bending strength and failure mode. Comparisons between bend tests and pull-off adhesion tests show significant differences to consider when evaluating twin wire arc coatings.

In this study, an internal injection plasma torch is used to deposit nano-agglomerated YSZ feedstock powders on superalloy substrates at low ambient pressures ranging from 5000 Pa to 6000 Pa. Coatings with unique fully nano-equiaxed structures were obtained when operating the torch below 300 A. With increasing current, up to 700 A, coatings with mixed-grain and eventually large-grain structures were produced. Experimental results suggest that the equiaxed nanoscale structure derives from the original agglomerated nanoparticles that had undergone melting while inside the nozzle of the plasma torch and were subsequently solidified or sintered in the coating. Coating hardness and elastic modulus were also measured and are shown to correspond with microstructure.

In this study, Vickers indentation testing is used to determine the fracture toughness of hard flame spray coatings produced from cored-wire feedstocks, including WC-10Co4Cr, 75CrCo-25NiCr, and WC-12Co. Average measured values are compared with fracture toughness values calculated from seven different equations found in the literature in order to validate the experimental results and to better understand the relationship between fracture toughness and coating hardness for each of the tested materials.

The mechanical, tribological, and corrosion properties of two hybrid coating systems were assessed: 1) a tungsten–tungsten carbide (W-WC) top layer and a laser cladded cobalt– chromium (Co-Cr) interlayer (Stellite 6 superalloy) applied to a 316 stainless steel substrate; and 2) the same W-WC top layer and an HVOF spray-and-fused Ni-W-Cr-B interlayer (Colmonoy 88 superalloy) applied to an Inconel 718 substrate. X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy were used to analyze the microstructure of the coating layers. Microindentation was used to measure surface hardness and the hardness profile of the coating systems. Rockwell indentation was used to assess coating adhesion according to CEN/TS 1071-8. Surface load-carrying capacity was also assessed by measuring micro- and macrohardness at high loads. Tribological properties were assessed with a linear reciprocating ball-on-flat sliding wear test, and corrosion resistance was measured by potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. W-WC layers showed class I adhesion to both the SS 316 and Inconel 718 substrates, with and without an interlayer. Hardness profile measurements on cross section showed hardness of 13.6 GPa and 7.0 GPa for W-WC and Co-Cr, respectively, with average hardness of 9.7 GPa for Ni-W-Cr-B. Furthermore, hardness measurements at different high loads revealed that the addition of an interlayer increases surface hardness by up to 200% compared to the same coating system provided without an interlayer, quantifying the additional load-carrying capacity provided by the supplementary interlayer. The tribological measurements show that, except for the Inconel 718 / Ni-W-Cr-B / W-WC system, the hardest interlayer or substrate leads to the highest wear rates. In addition, the W-WC layer showed excellent corrosion protection, with no pitting observed after potentiodynamic polarization testing.

This work focuses on the properties of Cu-Ag alloys deposited by cold spraying. Helium was used as the carrier gas, accelerating particles to 823 m/sec, which is in the middle of the deposition window for Cu alloys. To avoid oxygen contamination, the gun was placed in a helium-filled chamber and a closed-loop circulating system was used to minimize helium loss. Deposition parameters were varied during spraying and their effect on hardness, tensile properties, residual stress, and porosity was assessed in as-sprayed and heat-treated samples. Ultimate tensile strengths of 450 MPa and yield strengths of about 420 MPa were obtained for the as-sprayed samples and it was shown that strength and ductility can be tailored by heat treating, reaching elongation values higher than 45%. An increase in deposition rate from 55 to 142 g/min was also achieved without a significant decrease in mechanical properties.

This work assesses the feasibility of using a high-velocity airfuel (HVAF) gun both to grit blast and spray substrate surfaces. A design of experiments (DoE) approach was used to establish relationships between grit blasting variables, substrate surface conditions, and coating properties. Alumina was selected as the abrasive media, the substrates were HSLA steel, and CrC-NiCr and Fe-based powders were used to form the coatings. Uncoated and as-sprayed substrates were characterized based on hardness, residue levels, surface roughness profiles, and adhesion strength, which are correlated with mesh size, feed rate, offset angle, and standoff distance.

Alumina-zirconia ceramic material has been plasma sprayed using a water stabilized plasma torch (WSP) to produce free standing coatings. The as-sprayed coatings have very low porosity and are mostly amorphous. The amorphous material crystallizes at temperatures above 900 °C. A spark plasma sintering apparatus has been used to heat the as-sprayed samples to temperatures above 900 °C to induce crystallization while at the same time a uniaxial pressure of 80 GPa has been applied to the their surface. After such post-treatment, the ceramic samples are crystalline and exhibit very low open porosity. The as-sprayed amorphous materials also exhibit high hardness and high abrasion resistance. Both properties are significantly improved in the heat-treated samples whose microstructure is best described as nanocomposite with the very small crystallites embedded in an amorphous matrix.

This work assesses the influence of powder characteristics on the deposition efficiency, microstructure, and tribological properties of Cr 3 C 2 -NiCr coatings. Four commercial powders prepared by different methods were used for the study. All have a spherical morphology but vary in terms of porosity, carbide grain size, and flowability. The feedstocks were deposited on flat low-carbon steel substrates using a liquid-fueled HVOF torch mounted on an industrial robot. Deposition efficiency was measured along with coating hardness, Young’s modulus, and abrasive wear resistance. In addition, some of the coatings were heat treated and changes in microstructure and hardness were recorded.

In this study, cold spraying is used to develop WC-Co coatings with a WC-10Co core as reinforcement and a Co-rich WC-Co matrix as the binder. Core-shell structured powders were prepared by mechanical milling and coating samples were deposited by cold spraying. Post-spray annealing was carried out to further modify the coating microstructure. WC-Co coating microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated along with various structure-property relationships. It was found that a WC-Co layer with a porosity of only 0.7 % was realized by cold spraying the mechanically milled powder and that annealing at 900 °C for 2 h resulted in a remarkable improvement in fracture toughness with no evident change in hardness.

Very low pressure plasma spraying (VLPPS) has been used to manufacture thin, dense, finely-structured ceramic coatings for various applications. This paper presents the results of work in which VLPPS is used to deposit metal. Aluminum was chosen as a demonstrative material, due to its moderate vaporization enthalpy (38.23 KJ·cm -3 ), with the objectives of better understanding the behavior of a solid precursor injected into the plasma jet, leading to the formation of vapors, and controlling the factors affecting coating structure. Nearly dense aluminum coatings were successfully deposited by VLPPS at 100 Pa with an intermediate power (45 kW) plasma torch. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) was used to observe the behavior of the metal powder injected into the plasma jet, and simplified CFD modeling provided a better understanding of thermophysical mechanisms. The effect of powder size distribution, substrate temperature, and spray distance were studied. Coatings were characterized by SEM observations and Vickers microhardness measurements.

This paper presents the results of a study on the tribological properties of TiC-based coatings deposited by HVOF spraying. Four powder feedstocks consisting of (Ti,Mo)(C,N) hardmetal with Ni and Co binders were prepared by agglomeration and sintering. The feedstocks differ in composition and particle size distribution, the latter being optimized for fuel type and equipment requirements. Coating specimens are evaluated based on microstructure, hardness, bonding strength, and friction and wear behavior. The results are presented and correlated with spray parameters, equipment differences, and feedstock characteristics.

This study investigates the density, hardness, and wear behavior of WC-Co-Cr coatings produced by high-velocity air fuel (HVAF) spraying. The results indicate that coating hardness, density, and wear performance are improved by increasing gas velocity and using powders composed of fine CoCr particles.

In this work, tungsten carbide coatings are deposited by low-pressure cold spraying in order to assess the influence of powder compressive strength and binder materials on coating properties. Powder compressive strength was measured with a micro-compression tester, and cobalt and FeCr in different proportions were used as the metal binder. It was found that compressive strength affects coating hardness as well as deposition efficiency and that the optimum value for deposition efficiency is about 200 MPa. The results also indicate that dense coatings can be produced with either binder material, although coatings with an FeCr binder are the hardest.

The cold spray, for its peculiarity, is becoming increasingly in the reconstruction or repair of damage aluminium alloy components, especially in the aviation industry. Both thin (<0.5mm) and thick (up to centimeters) coatings are necessary in order to achieve dimensional recovery of the components. Contrary to thin, thick coatings can be deposited in single-pass or in multi-pass giving different thermal and stress contribution to the components and coatings itself. The thermal input, the amount and the type of residual stresses (compressive or tensile) confer appreciable or depreciable characteristics to the coatings adhesion, the crack propagation and the coating mechanical property. In this study two sets, single and multi-pass aluminium alloy coatings of different thickness are deposited into Al6061 substrate. The metallographic analysis by electronic and optical microscopes, the four-point bending test and the Vickers microhardness are performed; also the multi-pass coatings were characterized by fractographic analysis. Finally the different coating adhesions to substrate and cohesions are compared by standard ASTM C633 adhesion and cohesion tests.

In this study, an aluminum coating with dispersed quasicrystalline particles is produced by cold spraying. The spraying was done using helium gas at a temperature of 400 °C. The obtained coating exhibited a relatively precise microstructure with almost no macroscopic voids. X-ray and TEM analyses confirmed that the coating retained its quasicrystal structure on the surface as well as internally. TEM analysis also revealed that metallic bonding occurred at powder-powder and powder-substrate interfaces. Although the hardness of the coating was higher than that of extruded bulk alloy, tensile strength was found to be much lower, which is attributed to defects at particle-particle interfaces.

Cold gas dynamic spraying has shown to be a promising approach for fabricating titanium structures directly from powder in the absence of a controlled atmosphere. This study investigates the effect of annealing on the microstructure, hardness, and tensile properties of commercial purity titanium deposited under cold spray conditions. Equiaxed grains with ultrafine grain structure are observed in the annealed samples. A physical based model is proposed for recrystallization of cold-sprayed titanium deposits and the results are compared with conventional cold-rolled and annealed titanium products.

Plasma Transferred Arc hardfacing (PTA) is an excellent tool for surface tailoring as it allows for the manipulation of coatings chemical composition. In particular in-situ alloy development can be achieved during the deposition of different powder mixtures. In this work powder mixtures of Ni-Al, Nb-Al and Fe-Al were deposited by PTA. Coatings were characterized for their mechanical features at room temperature evaluated by Vickers microhardness under 300gf load, nano- (0.04gf) and macro- (10kgf) scratch tests and pin-on-abrasive disc tests under 1kgf. Results showed very high dilution for the processed coatings with Vickers microhardness varing with the chemical composition of the deposited powder, mixtures, with the Fe based deposits exhibiting the lower hardness (below 400Hv) and the Nb-based deposits reaching 900HV. Scratch hardness followed Vickers micro hardness only for the Nb based coatings. Abrasion mechanism also varied for each alloy system and within each alloy system, the harder the coating the better the abrasive wear resistance. However when comparing the full set of coatings the Nb based coatings exhibited a superior performance and the Ni based deposits the poorer wear resistance.

In the thermal spraying technique, the process includes some problems such as insufficient cohesive strength between particles in the coating. It is considered that the laser treatment of thermal spray coating will be effective method to improve the coating properties. In this study, an yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) laser treatment was carried out on the sprayed coating in order to examine the effect of laser beam on the coating properties and post laser treatment method and hybrid spraying method were carried out. Irradiation laser power conditions were 1.5kW, 2.0kW and 2.5kW, and defocus distance conditions were ±0mm, +30mm, +60mm, +90mm, changing the energy density and the traverse speed conditions were 100mm/s, 200mm/s, 300mm/s. In post treatment method the affected region in the Cr 3 C 2 -Ni-Cr coating is smaller with increasing traverse speed. Laser energy density affected the microstructure. In the case of defocus distance ±0mm and traverse speed is 100mmm/s there are three different regions, melted region, heat affected region and no affected region in the coating. The micro Vickers hardness of melted region of coatings was lower and heat affected region of coatings was higher than no laser treatment coating. It was considered that with post laser treatment method it was very difficult to treat the coating uniformly. In the blast erosion test, the wear-out rate of hybrid spray coating was lower than that of the HVOF spray coating. It is considered that the improvement of micro Vickers hardness of Cr 3 C 2 -Ni-Cr hybrid sprayed coating resulted from the precipitation of fine chrome carbide in the matrix and their strengthening affect cohesive strength between lamella in the coating. In WC-Co hybrid sprayed coating, the improvement of micro Vickers hardness resulted from the porosity decrease. The coating structure was different even in the identical processing condition by the place. The micro Vickers hardness of melted area of coatings was lower and heat affected area of coatings was higher than no laser treatment coating.

Thermal spray coatings of new MoB/CoCr cermets were developed. The mechanical behavior of HVOF-sprayed MoB/CoCr novel composite coatings was evaluated via Vickers microhardness. Microstructure of the coatings on 316L stainless steel substrates, as well as powders, were studied with optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD). X-ray microanalysis of the coatings was carried out using energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS) attached to the SEM. The distributions of microhardness values of the coatings were analyzed via Weibull statistic. Weibull analysis revealed a bimodal distribution of Vickers microhardness values. Such distribution was attributed to the presence of melted and unmelted phases in the resultant coating produced from the microstructured powder feedstock. The excellent mechanical properties of the coating are due to the MoB/CoCr powder, which results in the formation of complex ternary transition metal boride hard particles that exhibit exceptional mechanical properties.