New insights into the in-process densification mechanism of cold spray Al coatings: Low deposition efficiency induced densification

This work details new insights into the in-process densification mechanism of cold spray Al coatings. The results show a trend counter to common observations: coating plastic deformation levels and coating density decreases with an increase in particle impact velocity. A lower particle impact velocity and the consequent lower deposition efficiency(DE) results in greater tamping energy per unit volume of deposit,which is the primary reason for the observed trend. This is the first time that DE has been shown to have a non-linear impact on the density of a cold spray coating, with particle in-process tamping being the primary mechanism for coating densification.