This study evaluates the influence of shot peening on the fatigue life of cold spray aluminum alloy 6082 coatings. A pneumatic blast machine with standard steel shot was used to peen both uncoated and coated substrates. Six test groups representing different treatment protocols were characterized in terms of residual stress, roughness, and rotating bending fatigue. The results show that the best fatigue performance is obtained by intense shot peening prior to cold spraying. Post-treatment shot peening, in contrast, had a detrimental effect as a large portion of the kinetic energy is absorbed in the coating, resulting in surface damage rather than further work hardening.

The high strength nickel alloys, and in particular Inconel type alloys, are extensively used in several applications, such as aeronautics and petroleum industry, thanks to the combination of their high mechanical properties and their thermal and chemical resistance. In particular Inconel 625 is already used in oil pipelines and pipelines of large thermal plants, and the possibility to replace high cost bulk Inconel parts with Inconel coated steel parts is of great interest. On this context the first topic to allow the use of coated parts instead of bulk Inconel is the capability to provide high corrosion and thermal resistance. The aim of this study is to investigate the capability of Coldspray in the deposition of high strength materials, such as hard nickel alloys, for corrosion protection, and to compare the corrosion behaviour of Coldspray coatings with commercial HVOF deposited coatings. Inconel 625 coatings were deposited by using CGT Kinetic3000 deposition system with nitrogen as carrier gas on AISI316L flat substrates. The coating thickness ranges between 0.3 and 1.0 mm. Different feedstock materials were used and the effect of powder size distribution on the growth capability, as well on coating microstructure and porosity, were evaluated. The corrosion behaviour of Coldspray coatings were studied by electrochemical potentiondynamic analysis and compared with the behaviour of commercially available coatings deposited by HVOF that could be considered as a high-quality benchmark. In particular, the effects of the different coating microstructures due to the different deposition processes were related with the corrosion resistance. Further development and key features are finally outlined in order to candidate the Coldspray as promising technology for the deposition of high-strength nickel alloys.

The excellent corrosion resistance and biocompatibility of titanium make of it the material to choose for biomedical applications. Cold spraying, as a new coating technique, can be used to deposit protective Ti coatings onto less performing materials such as stainless steel and Co-Cr alloys, commonly used for biomedical implants. In addition, Cold Spray has the advantage, in comparison with conventional thermal spray techniques, to permit the deposition of oxygen-sensitive materials. In this study, Cold Sprayed Ti coatings were prepared on Co-Cr alloy substrates by using different spray process conditions. The microstructure of coatings was observed by SEM and the inner porosity was estimated by image analysis. Oxygen and nitrogen contents were investigated on a set of free standing deposits obtained using different process parameters. In the same way, the roughness and microhardness of deposits, such as the adhesion strength with the substrate, were measured. Finally, the corrosion performance of the coatings was evaluated by mean of open circuit potential measurement (OCP) and potentiodynamic polarizations scans. The electrochemical response was therefore discussed and compared to the corrosion behaviour of the Co-Cr alloy substrate and the bulk Titanium.

Ni base overlay coatings are being used to protect metallic engineering components in extreme conditions and actually traditional thermal spray deposition technologies such as Air Plasma Spraying (APS) and High Velocity Oxy-Fuel (HVOF) are mainly used to deposit these materials. However, Coldspray is receiving increased attention during the last years because of the lower spraying temperature required to deposit metallic coatings avoiding oxidation and reducing the coating porosity and the amount of residual stresses. The adhesion to the substrate and the growth mechanism of coldspray deposits are based on plastic deformation of impinging particles, so, in the case of high strength materials such as for example Ni alloys, it could be a lack in plastic deformation leading to insufficient compactness of the coating, barrier properties and high temperature resistance. Further improvements in the coatings performances could be attained by post-deposition thermal treatments to enhance coating adhesion and barrier properties. In this sense, the aim of this study is to explore a two-step way to produce high performances Inconel 625 alloy coatings by coldspray deposition followed by a laser glazing treatment. Coldspray Inconel 625 alloy coatings has been deposited onto AISI304 steel substrates. Laser glazing is performed using high power diode laser (HPDL) ROFIN-SINAR 13DS; the local thermal treatment on the coating surface induce microstructural changes which could modify and improve the coating compactness and performances. Coating morphology and microstructure has been evaluated and reported both before and after laser consolidation as a function of different laser conditions.

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.

Coldspray is becoming a consolidated technology in deposition of several metallic coatings such as aluminium, titanium, nickel, copper and their alloys. However, increasing attention is paid to the capabilities of coldspray to deposit composite Cer-Met coatings starting from powders blends. High ceramic content coatings are difficult to get by Cold-Spray technique due to the low ductility of the ceramic phase, but as for metal coatings the low deposition temperature reduce the residual stresses, coating porosity and oxidation. Furthermore, using powder blends, obtained by quickly mixing the pure components, leads to a great versatility on materials usable for deposition. In present work, the influence of alumina content on coldspray deposition of Ni-Al 2 O 3 coatings was studied. Five different powder blends were prepared, the ceramic content was set as 10, 25, 50, 75 and 90 weight percent of alumina. Ni-pure coatings have been prepared and compared with composites coatings. Characterization techniques were employed in order to determine the coating morphology and microstructure , with special attention to determine the real alumina content in the coating with respect to initial powder feedstock. The final coating porosity and the matrix hardness were also evaluated. Finally, the performance of the coatings in terms of oxidation resistance was determined and discussed.

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.

In this work, the influence of the substrate temperature on the deposition efficiency and on the coating properties and residual stress was investigated. Pure Al coatings were deposited on Al 6061 alloy substrates using CGT Kinetics 3000 deposition system. The substrate temperature was ranged between 20°C (room temperature) and 375 °C and was kept nearly constant during the deposition while all the other deposition parameters were unchanged. The deposited coatings were quenched in water (within one minute from the deposition) and then characterized. The residual stress was determined by Almen gage method (Ref 1, 2, 3), Modified Layer Removal Method (Ref 4, 5, 6), and XRD (Ref 7) in order to identify both the mean coating stress and the stress profile through the coating thickness from the surface to the coating- substrate interface. The residual stress results obtained by these three methods were compared and discussed. The coating morphology and porosity were investigated using optical and scanning electron microscopy.

In the present work, pure Al and Al-Al 2 O 3 composite coatings are deposited by cold spraying while measuring in-flight particle velocities. Residual stresses, evaluated using the Almen curvature method, X-day diffraction, and modified layer removal, are correlated with particle velocity, coating thickness, and alumina content. Peening stresses due to plastic deformation were estimated to be less than 100 MPa and are shown to be nearly constant through the thickness of the coatings.

For years, special attention has been paid to study and to develop innovative copper alloys and composites, with improved mechanical behaviour in respect to pure copper and preserving its excellent electrical and thermal properties. In this work different copper/alumina blends have been prepared and then deposited by cold spray at different gas carrier temperatures. The deposition efficiency and the content of embedded alumina have been determined by means of image analysis using SPIP software. Optimized deposition temperature results 450°C: the coatings exhibit compact, pore-free microstructure and very low oxidation. Microhardness and friction coefficient have been evaluated of both pure copper and composite coatings. An increase of microhardness from 65HV 0.015 to 150HV 0.5 has been observed while a progressive reduction of friction coefficient as a function of alumina content has been reported. Further characterizations to determine thermal and electrical properties of copper/alumina composites are in progress.