Heat treatment of cold-sprayed C355 Al for repair: microstructure and mechanical properties

Cold gas dynamic spraying of commercially pure aluminum is widely used for dimensional repair in the aerospace sector as it is capable of producing oxide-free deposits of hundreds of micrometer thickness with strong bonding to the substrate, based on adhesive pull-off tests, and often with enhanced hardness compared to the powder prior to spraying. There is significant interest in extending this application to structural, load-bearing repairs. Particularly, in the case of high-strength aluminum alloys, cold spray deposits can exhibit high levels of porosity and microcracks, leading to mechanical properties that are inadequate for most load-bearing applications. Here, heat treatment was investigated as a potential means of improving the properties of cold-sprayed coatings from Al alloy C355. Coatings produced with process conditions of 500 °C and 60 bar were heat-treated at 175, 200, 225, 250 °C for 4 h in air, and the evolution of the microstructure and microhardness was analyzed. Heat treatment at 225 and 250 °C revealed a decreased porosity (~ 0.14% and 0.02%, respectively) with the former yielding slightly reduced hardness (105 versus 130 HV0.05 as-sprayed). Compressive residual stress levels were approximately halved at all depths into the coating after heat treatment, and tensile testing showed an improvement in ductility

Corrosion Study of Cold Sprayed Aluminum Coatings onto Al 7075 Alloy

Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

A Laser Thermal Cycling Rig as a New Method to Characterize the Evolution of Coating Adhesion under Thermal Cycle

Abstract Thermal sprayed coatings are often used for high temperature applications and, per se, are subjected to transient temperature gradients during operation. The recurrent temperature changes generate stresses that damage the coating with time, and can even lead to its delamination. The most common methods to evaluate coating behavior under thermal cycling are furnace testing or burner rigs. Both approaches cannot match the conditions reached in service for several applications, in terms of the achievable heating rates for instance. As a consequence, a versatile and robust method to evaluate coating resistance to spalling under thermal cycles is still to be found. This paper presents the development of a thermal cycling rig where the heat input is provided by a laser. This rig allows easy testing of several samples jointly for heating rates as high as 55°C/s and for thousands of thermal cycles. Preliminary trials have allowed the development of different spalling criteria. Finally, it was found that SS430-based materials arc-sprayed on Al substrates exhibit higher delamination resistance (life) under rapid heating/cooling cycles than SS304 coatings on the same substrate. For such high heating rates, the thermal stresses generated in the coating would be more critical than the thermal mismatch at the interface coating/substrate.</jats:p