Numerical simulation of the effects of the impact velocity on the particle deposition characteristics in cold gas dynamic spraying

In this study, the effects of the impact velocity on the particle deposition characteristics in cold gas dynamic spraying （CGDS） of 304 stainless steel （SS） on an interstitial free （IF） steel substrate are numerical simulated by means of a finite element analysis （FEA）. The results have illustrated that when the particle impact velocity exceeds a critical value at which adiabatic shear instability of the particle starts to occur. Meanwhile, the fatten ratio and impact crater depth （or the effective contacting area ） increase rapidly. The particle-substrate bonding and deposition mechanism can be attributed to such an adiabatic shear deformation induced by both the compressive force and the slide friction force of particle. The critical velocity can be predicted by numerical simulation, which is useful to optimize the CGDS processing parameters for various materials.

Mitigative Effects of Foliage Spraying and Root Irrigation of ALA on Banana Plantlets Exposed to Cold Stress

[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the effect of ALA applied by foliage spraying and root irrigation on banana plantlets exposed to cold stress. [Method] After applied by foliage spraying and root irrigation with 5-aminolevulinic acid （ALA） at four different concentrations, ＂Brazil banana＂ plantlets were placed in artificial climate boxes at 7 ℃ to imitate low-temperature stress. [Result] The results showed that ALA application by both foliage spraying and root application can significantly increase SOD and POD activities, and reduce O2- generation rate, MDA content and relative conductivity in leaves of banana plantlets, as well as raising proline content, soluble protein content and relative water content, and maintaining the stability of chlorophyll. Foliage application of ALA within concentration range of 0.505.00 mg/L had best effect, which increased the chlorophyll content and reduced the relative conductivity and MDA content significantly compared to root irrigation at the same concentration, and raised SOD and POD activities by 64.5% and 12.3% respectively at 5 mg/L compared to their counterparts by root irrigation. [Conclusion] Foliage spraying of ALA can better mitigate the injuries to banana plantlets caused by low-temperature stress.

Optimization of spray conditions in cold spraying based on numerical analysis of particle velocity

The effects of the parameters involved in cold spray on the acceleration of particles are systematically investigated by a CFD code in order to reveal the main factors influencing significantly particle velocity. The parameters involved include nozzle geometry parameters, processing parameters and properties of spray particles. It is found that driving gas type, operating pressure and temperature are main processing parameters which influence particle velocity. As for nozzle geometry, the expansion ratio and divergent section length of spray gun nozzle show significant effects. Moreover, the density, size and morphology of powder also have significant effects on particle velocity. The effects of those main parameters are summarized in a comprehensive equation obtained through nonlinear regression of the simulated results for the estimation of particle velocity. The interactions of the parameters on particle acceleration can be examined through the equation. Moreover, the optimization of the dimensions of spray gun nozzle and spray parameters can be realized based on the obtained results.

Influence of TiCl_4 treatment on performance of dye-sensitized solar cell assembled with nano-TiO_2 coating deposited by vacuum cold spraying

Titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) treatment was employed to TiO2 coating deposited on fluoride-doped tin oxide (FTO) conducting glass and indium oxide doped tin oxide (ITO) conducting glass, respectively. The nano-crystalline TiO2 coating was deposited using a composite powder composed of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and 25 nm TiO2 particles by vacuum cold spraying (VCS) process. A commercial N-719 dye was used to adsorb on the surface of TiO2 coating to prepare TiO2 electrode, which was applied to assemble dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC). The cell performance was measured under simulated solar light at an intensity of 100 mW·cm-2. Results show that with an FTO substrate the DSC composed of a VCS TiO2 electrode untreated by TiCl4 gives a short-circuit current density of 13.1 mA·cm-2 and an open circuit voltage of 0.60 V corresponding to an overall conversion efficiency of 4.4%. It is found that after TiCl4 treatment to the VCS TiO2 electrode with an FTO substrate, the short circuit current density of the cell increases by 31%, the open-circuit voltage increases by 60 mV and a higher conversion yield of 6.5% was obtained. However, when an ITO substrate is used to deposit TiO2 coating by VCS, after TiCl4 treatment, the conversion efficiency of the assembled cell reduces slightly due to corrosion of the conducting layer on the ITO glass by TiCl4.

Progress in the application of cold gas dynamic spraying to repairing continuous casting molds

A new continuous casting mold repairing method--cold gas dynamic spraying （CGDS） is introduced. The study investigates the advantages of the CGDS process regarding repairing operation, such as convenient, in-situ repairation,little heat delivery, microstructural and dimensional stability and other special applications. Microstructure and mechanical properties of the copper alloy coating, nickel coating, ceramic composite coating, and their interface to the substrates ,which are usually used in repairing operation have been researched by means of optical microscopy （ OM）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM） and micro-hardness tests. Experimental results have demonstrated the relative density of the copper alloy coating is as high as 98.7%, and that no obvious difference can be observed between the CrZrCu substrate and the Cu alloy coating in terms of microstructures; thus the interface is quite difficult to be identified. The bonding strength and micro-hardness of the Cu alloy coating reach up to 37 MPa and 310 HV0.2 ,respectively. The interface between the copper alloy coating and the nickel coating is either zigzag or wave shaped, and the cohesion is relatively good. As-sprayed nickel coating is dominated by severely deformed particles,and the relative density is up to 98.5%. Complete recrystallization occurred after annealing at 900℃ for one hour,while its micro-hardness remains as high as 124.1 HV02. All these results have indicated that CGDS is a promising technology for repairing the continuous casting mold and that its future development is prosperous as well.

Microstructure evolution of cold-sprayed coating during deposition and through post-spraying heat treatment

The microstructural features of cold-sprayed coatings were investigated using Cu, Ti and Zn feedstocks by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy to reveal the microstructure evolution mechanisms in cold spray. Four typical effects including tamping, refinement, impact-induced fusion and annealing were examined on microstrueture. It is found that the microstructure of cold spray coating is remarkably influenced by spray materials. Ti coatings consist of evident porous layer and Cu coatings present a limited porous layer only near the surface. It is clear that the successive tamping effect and dynamic refinement of grains significantly influence the microstructure evolution of cold-sprayed coating. The tamping effect leads to the densification of porous coating layer gradually and the refinement effect leads to the formation of fine microstructure. It is considered that the large difference in the formation of porous layer is attributed to the dynamic impact pressure and hardenability of materials. It is also found that the impact-induced fusion during deposition of Zn coating can also modify the interfacial microstructure between particles in cold spray coating. Moreover, the nanocrystalline phase can be formed at the interfaces among particles resulting from the localized melting of the interfaces and tamping effect. Furthermore, the annealing treatment can modify the microstructure and property of a cold-sprayed coating.

Effect of different incidence angles on bonding performance in cold spraying

The deformation behaviour of spray particles impacting upon a substrate under the oblique impact condition in cold spraying was investigated using finite element analysis(FEA)method.The effect of incidence angle of particle on the deformation of particle and substrate was examined.It is found that the contact area between the deformed particle and substrate decreases and the crater depth in the substrate reduces with increasing the tilting angle at the same impact velocity.The normal component of impact velocity takes an important role in the impacting process and formation of bonding.

A novel approach for fabricating a CNT/AlSi composite with the self-aligned nacre-like architecture by cold spraying

A fully dense carbon nanotubes (CNTs) reinforced AlSi matrix composite with the multiscale nacre-like architecture was designed and successfully realized by flake powder metallurgy followed by cold spraying (CS). The nanolaminated and ultrafine-grained structure initially created in the CNT/AlSi flaky powder was perfectly conserved, due to the typical ‘cold’ feature of CS. As discussed based on finite element analysis and single splat observation, self-alignment behavior of the flaky powders during impact also allowed the formation of the microlaminated structure. Hence, the scalable CS technique opens a new avenue for bioinspired material design and fabrication with complex shape.

Preparation of TiAl_3-Al composite coating by cold spraying

TiAl3-Al coating was deposited on orthorhombic Ti2AlNb alloy substrate by cold spraying with the mixture of pure Al and Ti as the feedstock powder at a fixed molar ratio of 3-1 when the spraying distance,gas temperature and gas pressure for the process were 10 mm,250 ℃ and 1.8 MPa,respectively.The as-sprayed coating was then subjected to heat treatment at 630 ℃ in argon atmosphere for 5 h at a heating rate of 3 ℃/min and an argon gas flow rate of 40 mL/min.The obtained TiAl3-Al composite coating is about 212 μm with a density of 3.16 g/cm3 and a porosity of 14.69% in general.The microhardness and bonding strength for the composite coating are HV525 and 27.12 MPa.

Conceptual Design and Analysis of Cold Mass Support of the CS3U Feeder for the ITER

In the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor（ITER） project,the feeders are one of the most important and critical systems.To convey the power supply and the coolant for the central solenoid（CS） magnet,6 sets of CS feeders are employed,which consist mainly of an in-cryostat feeder（ICF）,a cryostat feed-through（CFT）,an S-bend box（SBB）,and a coil terminal box（CTB）.To compensate the displacements of the internal components of the CS feeders during operation,sliding cold mass supports consisting of a sled plate,a cylindrical support,a thermal shield,and an external ring are developed.To check the strength of the developed cold mass supports of the CS3U feeder,electromagnetic analysis of the two superconducting busbars is performed by using the CATIA V5 and ANSYS codes based on parametric technology.Furthermore, the thermal-structural coupling analysis is performed based on the obtained results,except for the stress concentration,and the max.stress intensity is lower than the allowable stress of the selected material.It is found that the conceptual design of the cold mass support can satisfy the required functions under the worst case of normal working conditions.All these performed activities will provide a firm technical basis for the engineering design and development of cold mass supports.

Microstructure and micro-hardness of the Inconel 718 superalloy coating prepared by cold gas dynamic spraying

Inconel 718 superalloy coating was prepared on a martensitic steel substrate by cold gas dynamic spraying （ CGDS ）. Microstructure and micro-hardness of the coating were characterized by means of scanning electronic microscope （SEM） ,energy dispersive spectrometer （EDS）, and micro-hardness and nano-indentation tests. The results have indicated that the coating＇ s thickness can reach more than 300 um, and there exists a good interfacial cohesion between the coating and the substrate. The quantity and size of the defects at the bottom, middle and top areas increase gradually. There is no significant change to the original microstructure of the Inconel 718 superalloy particle after the process of CGDS ;and an obvious torsional deformation on the particle＇ s profile is produced while little deformation at the center part occurs. The micro-hardness of the coating at the bottom, middle and top areas decreases in turn. Compared with the bottom area, the micro-hardness of the middle and top areas decreases by about 10% and 21%, respectively. The nano-hardness of the coating is much lower than the original particle,which decreases by about 13.5% at the bottom area and 28% at the top area,respectively. The distribution of micro-defects is an important factor to the micro-hardness of the coating.

Study on the 316L stainless steel coatings and their properties by cold gas dynamic spraying

316L stainless steel coatings were prepared by cold gas dynamic spraying （CGDS） on a carbon steel. A new heater of sprayed powders was added to the traditional facility. The results show that the coating quality is obviously improved, due to better interface bonding and reduced porosity.

Numerical simulation of particle tracks in the cold gas dynamic spraying process

In this study,the distribution behavior of the particle flow field in cold gas dynamic spraying （CGDS） was simulated through the Computational fluid dynamics （CFD） method. Traces of the particles with different diameters in the gas flow field were analyzed, and effects of fiat and sphere substrates on the particle tracks were also compared .Simulation results indicate that different escaping directions of particles flow with the two substrates. These investigations. gave instructions on how to design the powder recovery and dusting machines in a CGDS system.

Influence of the preheated substrate temperature on the microstructure deposition behavior of the 304 stainless steel coatings deposited by cold gas dynamic spraying

The effects of the substrate temperature on the deposition and microstructure of the 304 stainless steel （SS） cold gas dynamic spraying （CGDS） coatings were investigated. It was found that the higher substrate temperature could increase the deposition rate of the 304 SS particles,even the oxide films existed at the interface. There was a critical oxide film with a thickness of 3 -4 um which could be destroyed by the impacted particles. The micro-hardness and microstructure of the 304 SS coatings under different substrate preheating temperatures were almost the same.

Effects of standoff distance on the supersonic flow fields in cold gas dynamic spraying

In this study,the effects of standoff distance （SOD） on the supersonic flow fields （including gas and particle flow fields） during cold gas dynamic spraying （ CGDS ） are investigated by means of computational fluid dynamics （CFD）. The variation of velocity,temperature,pressure and density with different SoD is elucidated through the analysis of the distribution properties of the flow fields. It is found that the shock waves in front of the substrate remarkably influence the gas and particle flow fields. The wave system of expansion waves and pressure waves come into being continuously. The velocity of gas reaches the super.,;onic speed at the position of the Mach disc, while it decreases sharply when the gas flow crosses the Mach disc. The optirnal SoDs are 40 mm for 1 um particles and 50 mm for both 5 um and 22 um particles.

Role of heat balance on the microstructure evolution of cold spray coated AZ31B with AA7075

A promising solid-state coating mechanism based on the cold spray technique provides highly advantageous conditions on thermal-sensitive magnesium alloys.To study the effect of heat balance in cold spray coating on microstructure,experiments were designed to successfully coat AA7075 on AZ31B with two different heat balance conditions to yield a coated sample with tensile residual stress and a sample with compressive residual stress in both coating and substrate.The effects of coating temperature on the microstructure of magnesium alloy and the interfaces of coated samples were then analyzed by SEM,EBSD,TEM in high-and low-heat input coating conditions.The interface of the AA7075 coating and magnesium alloy substrate under both conditions consists of a narrow-band layer with very fine grains,followed by columnar grains of magnesium that have grown perpendicular to the interface.At higher temperatures,this layer became wider.No intermetallic phase was detected at the interface under either condition.It is shown that the microstructure of the substrate was affected by coating temperature,leading to stress relief,dynamic recrystallization and even dynamic grain growth of magnesium under high temperature.Reducing the heat input and increasing the heat transfer decreased microstructural changes in the substrate.

Preparation and performance of a cold gas dynamic sprayed high-aluminum bronze coating

By mixing preheated high-aluminum bronze powders with different amounts of Al_2O_3 powder, a low-pressure cold-sprayed coating was prepared and sprayed onto a Cr12MoV steel substrate. The hardness of the coating and the bonding strength between the coating and the substrate were tested with a HV-1000 microhardness tester and a mechanical universal testing machine. The surface microstructure, cross-section and tensile fracture surface of the coating were observed with a scanning electron microscope(SEM). Correspondingly, the influences of the preheat treatment temperature of the bronze powder and the Al_2O_3 content on the coating performance were investigated. The results indicate that the hardness of bronze powders decreased and the coating deposition rate increased after the preheating treatment of the bronze powder. The Al_2O_3 content in the mixed powders contributed to the deformation of bronze powders during the spraying process. This trend resulted in varied performance of the coating.

Effect of vacuum heat treatment on microstructure and microhardness of cold sprayed Cu-4Cr-2Nb alloy coating

The effect of vacuum heat treatment on the microstructure and microhardness of cold-sprayed Cu-4%Cr-2%Nb alloy coating was investigated. The heat treatment was conducted under the temperatures from 250 ℃ to 950 ℃ with a step of 100 ℃ for 2 h. It was found that a dense thick Cu-4Cr-2Nb coating could be formed by cold spraying. After heat treatment, a Cr2Nb phase was uniformly distributed in the matrix, which was transferred from the gas-atomized feedstock. A little grain growth of Cr2Nb phase was observed accompanying with the healing-up of the incomplete interfaces between the deposited particles at the elevated temperatures. The coating microhardness increases a little with increasing the temperature to 350 ℃, and then decreases with further increasing temperature up to 950 ℃. This fact can be attributed to the microstructure evolution during the heat treatment.

The effect of annealing treatment on the microstructures and mechanical properties of cold-sprayed nickel coating

The effect of annealing treatment on the microstructures and mechanical properties of cold-sprayed Ni coating was investigated by conducting micro-hardness and tensile tests and using a normal optical microscope （OM） ,a scanning electron microscope （ SEM）, a transmission electron microscope （TEM） and an electron probe X-ray microanalyzer （EPMA）. The results show that following the increase of the annealing temperature ,the micro-hardness of cold-sprayed Ni coating decreases and the elongation after fracture increases, while the tensile strength increases before decreasing. The tensile deformation and fracture behavior change from a typical brittle fracture to a hybrid brittle and ductile fracture, then to a typical ductile failure. It is found that when annealed at an elevated temperature （ e. g. 900℃ ） ,the grains tend to grow abnormally with the oxides spheroidizing and the defects agglomerating at the interfaces, causing the tensile strength reduction of the cold-sprayed nickel coating. It is also pointed out that the tensile strength of the cold-sprayed Ni coating can be significantly improved by the appropriate annealing procedures, but the elongation after fracture cannot be clearly increased because it is difficult to eliminate the main defects in the coating by the following heat treatments.

Corrosion performance of Al–Al2O3 cold sprayed coatings on mild carbon steel pipe under thermal insulation

This paper focused on the corrosion resistance of cold spray Al–Al_2O_3composite coatings used on carbon steel pipe surfaces under thermal insulation. Al–Al_2O_3coatings were produced on the carbon steel pipe surface by cold spray(CS) technology. Experimental apparatus was built to test the corrosion resistance of coatings beneath mineral wool insulation under isothermal, thermal cycling and wet/dry conditions. The results showed that when α-Al_2O_3 was added in spraying powder, the coating could obtain higher hardness and a denser microstructure. From corrosionunder-insulation(CUI) tests, Al–Al_2O_3CS coatings were proven to be efficient in protecting carbon steel pipe from CUI mainly owning to lamellar microstructures of coatings. There was no evidence to show that α-Al_2O_3 might bring any negative effect on corrosion resistance. Al–Al_2O_3CS coatings were sensitive to the chloride ion concentration. When these coatings were exposed to higher concentrations of NaC l, the coating's exhibited faster degradation.