Abstract
Cold Spray is an innovative technology to create coatings through the impact of metallic particles on substrates. Its application to composites’ surfaces is recently attracting the attention of the scientific community thanks to the possibility to functionalize and improve their thermal and wear properties. Within this context, the generation of the first metal-to-composite layer is fundamental. This work presented an experimental investigation of a composite panel, reinforced with glass fibers and coated with aluminum particles. The coating investigation was carried out through active pulsed thermography, analyzing the thermal response of single and double hatches. The thermal outputs were compared with a standard microscopic analysis, with a critical discussion supporting the identification of factors that influence the thermal response to the pulse: (1) layer’s thickness; (2) cold spray coverage; (3) layer compactness; (4) particle-substrate adhesion; (5) particle’s oxidation; and (6) surface roughness.
Highlights
Cold Spray (CS) is a recently developed technique suitable for the metallization of different substrates
The deposition occurs through the acceleration of solid-state microparticles towards the target substrate, where the interlocking occurs as a result of the high-velocity impact and the associated severe plastic deformation
The main applications in the literature deal with metal-to-metal coatings to enhance the performance of the coated system regarding wear, corrosion, fatigue, etc. [1,2]; CS has been suggested for additive manufacturing of freestanding parts [3,4]
Summary
Cold Spray (CS) is a recently developed technique suitable for the metallization of different substrates. The deposition occurs through the acceleration of solid-state microparticles towards the target substrate, where the interlocking occurs as a result of the high-velocity impact and the associated severe plastic deformation. The main applications in the literature deal with metal-to-metal coatings to enhance the performance of the coated system regarding wear, corrosion, fatigue, etc. Attention is moving towards metal-to-composites with polymers or polymeric matrix composites substrates; this last application is known as polymer metallization. Metallic coatings aim to functionalize and improve the composites’ thermal and electrical properties [5] and wear and erosion resistance [6], but they can act as electromagnetic shielding and as lightning strike protection in the aerospace industry [7].
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