Mahnaz Jahedi

Effect of processing conditions on porosity formation in cold gas dynamic spraying of copper

The cold gas dynamics process is a promising low-temperature spray process in which particles are accelerated in a supersonic flow before impacting with substrate to be coated. In this study the effect of spray temperature, spray pressure, and particle size on porosity formation in cold spray coatings are investigated. Results show that an increase in spray temperature and a decrease in particle size lead to a decline in volume fraction of porosity. Furthermore, particle velocity and particle temperature are determined to be the significant parameters for elimination of porosity. A model is proposed for estimation of the volume fraction of porosity for alloy of this study.

A Numerical Investigation of the Cold Spray Process Using Underexpanded and Overexpanded Jets

The impact velocity of particles during the cold spray process is crucial to the optimisation of coating quality and spraying costs. In the present investigation, both underexpanded and overexpanded impinging jets are employed to accelerate Aluminium particles towards a substrate. The impact velocity and angle statistics are generated by injecting polydisperse particles into the jet and the particle dynamics are characterised using the velocity and trajectories of the particles. The optimum particle size corresponding to the maximum impact speed is recast in terms of the Stokes number and shown to have a value of approximately one. Finally, a normal shock model is proposed which may be employed to estimate the particle impact speed using the nozzle exit conditions. It is shown that owing to artificial viscosity associated with the total variation diminishing scheme, this model tends to underestimate the speed.

Cold spray metal embedment: an innovative antifouling technology

The study demonstrates that embedment of copper particles into thermoplastic polymers (polymers) using cold spray technology is an effective deterrent against fouling organisms. Two polymers, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and nylon were metallised with copper powder using cold spray technology. After 250 days in the field, Cu-embedded HDPE and copper plate controls were completely free of hard foulers compared to Cu-embedded nylon and polymer controls which were heavily fouled with both soft and hard fouling. Antifouling (AF) success is related to the interaction between the properties of the polymers (elastic modulus and hardness) and the cold spray process which affect particle embedment depth, and subsequently, the release of copper ions as determined by analytical techniques. Embedding metal using cold spray equipment is shown to be an effective AF technology for polymers, in particular those that are difficult to treat with standard AF coatings, with efficacy being a function of the interaction between the cold spray metal and the polymer recipient.

Direct Manufacturing of Titanium Parts by Cold Spray

Titanium has excellent properties as an engineering material such as light weight, high strength and high resistance to corrosion and fracture. However, the high cost associated with the materials and current process technologies is not conducive to higher-volume production for consumer industry. It appears near net shape manufacturing has to be used to manufacture titanium and titanium alloys parts. Investigators are exploring several near net shape technologies. However, most of these technologies involve melting and solidification. Each new layer starts out molten, solidifies, and must eventually cool to room temperature. Oxygen sensitive material such as titanium needs to be processed under vacuum. There is a great need for revolutionary coating and direct Manufacturing technology to extend the application of titanium and titanium alloys from top end, aerospace and biomedical to lower end consumer use. It appears Cold Spray Technology can deliver a suitable and cost effective coating and direct manufacturing solution for titanium industry. CSIRO Light Metals Flagship has pioneered in developing direct manufacturing technologies to fabricate titanium parts using Cold Spray. Mechanical properties of Cold Spray titanium in as sprayed and heat treated conditions are presented and compared with wrought titanium. Some of technologies such as Cold Spray for direct manufacturing of seamless titanium pipes are discussed.

Characterization of Cold Spray Titanium Deposits by X-Ray Microscopy and Microtomography

Cold gas dynamic spray (cold spray) is a rapid deposition technology in which particles deposit at velocities above the speed of sound (approximately 340 ms-1). Generally, porosity forms in cold spray deposits due to insufficient deformation of particles. In this study, the unique capability of the X-ray microscopy and microtomography is utilized to visualize the internal structure of deposited material. The results show that this characterization technique successfully reveals porosities in the cold spray commercial purity (CP) titanium structure. Furthermore, microtomography images confirmed the experimental results for porosity measurements in which helium (compared with nitrogen) as carrier gas significantly decreases porosity in cold spray CP titanium.

Polyurethane seismic streamer skins: an application of cold spray metal embedment

Cold spray metal embedment is an innovative antifouling (AF) technology that delivers metal particles with AF properties into many thermoplastic polymers. AF efficacy was quantified for low (22.1 ± 4.8 g m−2) and high (101.1 ± 10.8 g m−2) densities of copper particles embedded into polyurethane (PU) seismic streamer skins, which are used in geophysical exploration. Failure of each Cu-embedded treatment was defined as settlement of hard foulers. Low-density streamers failed after 42 days while high-density streamers failed after 210 days. Most importantly, the high-density streamers were completely free of hard foulers including the barnacle Amphibalanus reticulatus during this time period. In conclusion, cold-spray metal embedment is an effective AF technology for PU seismic streamer skins, under intense fouling conditions. Higher copper particle densities enhance AF longevity and the effect of density provides a tool to extend efficacy and enhance AF performance for specific polymers.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti–6Al–4V manufactured by electron beam melting process

Abstract Electron beam melting (EBM) is a powder based additive manufacturing technology used to produce parts with high geometrical complexity directly from a three-dimensional computer aided design model. It is one of the most promising methods of additive manufacturing for a wide range of industrial applications, especially the medical implant and aerospace industries. This paper presents the microstructures and mechanical behaviour of as fabricated and hot isostatic pressing (HIP) processed parts, which are made by an Arcam A1 EBM system. The biocompatible titanium alloy Ti6Al4V was used as the material for the specimens. Characterisation of the parts after manufacturing and after tensile and fatigue tests was conducted by scanning electron microscopy. The mechanical properties, including tensile stress–strain, Vickers microhardness (HV), surface roughness and fatigue cycles, have been measured and compared with similar literature relevant to EBM made Ti6Al4V parts. The results highlight the advantage and disadvantage of HIP processing on the mechanical properties and microstructure of the EBM made parts.

Characterisation of Cold Spray Titanium Coatings

Cold spray is a solid state spray deposition process utilizing a supersonic De Laval nozzle to accelerate fine particles to high velocities. Particles plastically deform on impact to the substrate and to each other to create dense well adhered structures. In this study, the microstructure and mechanical properties of cold spray Titanium coatings deposited using nitrogen gas at different gas temperature and pressure were examined. In general, it was found that gas-atomised CP-titanium powder is capable of producing dense coating structures on aluminium alloy (Al6061) substrates. The micro-hardness, oxygen and nitrogen content of the coatings were found to be slightly higher than powder in the as-received condition. It was also found the coating residual stress was purely compressive when cold spray is conducted at high gas pressure and temperature.

Assessing the antifouling properties of cold-spray metal embedment using loading density gradients of metal particles

Particles of copper, bronze and zinc were embedded into a polymer using cold-spray technology to produce loading density gradients of metal particles. The gradients were used to identify the species with the highest tolerance to the release of copper and zinc ions. The gradients also established the minimum effective release rates (MERRs) of copper and zinc ions needed to prevent the recruitment of fouling under field conditions. Watersipora sp. and Simplaria pseudomilitaris had the highest tolerances to the release of metal ions. Copper and bronze gradient tubes were similar in their MERRs of copper ions against Watersipora sp. (0.058 g m−2 h−1 and 0.054 g m−2 h−1, respectively) and against S. pseudomilitaris (0.030 g m−2 h−1 and 0.025 g m−2 h−1, respectively). Zinc was not an effective antifoulant, with failure within two weeks. In conclusion, cold-spray gradients were effective in determining MERRs and these outcomes provide the basis for the development of cold-spray surfaces with pre-determined life-spans using controlled MERRs.

Residual Stresses and Deformations in Electron Beam Melting process Using Finite Element Analysis

The simulation of residual stress in Electron Beam Melting (EBM) process is critical for optimization of process conditions. However, there is no published literature on the simulation of residual stresses in this process. This paper considers finite element modeling of the temperature distribution through transient thermal analysis. The measured temperature and total heat flux from transient thermal analysis are then used as initial input parameters to the structural analysis. Consequently, deformations and residual stresses in structural analysis were measured. The titanium alloy, Ti6Al4V has been used, which is one of the most common materials for biomedical implants due to its high strength to weight ratio, corrosion resistance, and its biocompatibility features.