Heat-treatment and mechanical properties of cold-sprayed high strength Al alloys from satellited feedstocks

Abstract

In prior work, the authors demonstrated a method for the creation of composite coatings containing TiC particles in a pure Al matrix by cold spray via a satelliting technique. Here, the authors investigate the effects of using the ‘Satelliting’ technique on the deposition and characteristics of A6061-TiC coatings fabricated by cold-spray. The results showed clear improvements in the deposition efficiency and porosity of the satellited powder obtained by using the satellited feedstock. Annealing heat-treatment was then applied for further enhancement of the coating's density and wear properties. The heat-treated coating exhibited a ~70% reduction in interlamellar porosity. Dry sliding wear testing using a steel counter body at 5 N showed that using a satellited feedstock with TiC yielded a 55% and 20% reduction in coating specific wear rate in comparison to coatings made using pure 6061 and blended 6061-TiC, respectively. This was further reduced by ~70% and 40% in comparison to the 6061 and blended 6061-TiC coating after heat-treatment with good repeatability.