Cold spray coating: A review of material systems and future perspectives

Abstract

Spraying solid powders onto a substrate at high velocity with a de Laval nozzle characterizes cold spray, also known as a cold gas dynamic spray (CS). Particles will stick to a surface if the impact velocity is high enough to create a plastic deformation. Metals, ceramics, composites, and polymers are just some materials that may be deposited utilizing CS, opening up a world of interesting possibilities for specialized harvesting applications. CS has some technological advantages compared to thermal spray due to using kinetic energy for deposition. There has been a proliferation of material combinations that can be sprayed utilizing cold spray technology due to the emergence of new material systems with superior properties in disciplines as disparate as internal combustion engines and biotechnology. The need to provide a concise summary of the state of the art increases as the amount of research into a topic grows in line with the breadth of its potential applications. This overview will discuss the various material systems studied for potentially revolutionary uses. Polymer is considered in two contexts: as a substrate and a layer, allowing us to discuss metal incorporation. CS has shown promise in depositing nanostructured materials, unlike many traditional consolidation processes, without significantly altering their microstructure. Relevant material systems, which may include nanostructured powders, are also considered. It examines microstructural bonding techniques for those relatively new material systems and discusses their potential future uses. Examples of suitable materials include ceramics, polymers, MMCs, and nanostructured powders. More study is required, particularly to quantify the relationship between process parameters and the effective behaviour of the targeted material systems.