Evaluation of mechanical properties of Ti6Al4V cold sprayed coatings

The majority of the mechanical components in aeronautical applications show a reduction of their performance during their service life. Sometimes the component replacement is necessary, with the consequent cost of material and time. An alternative is to repair the component depositing a coating onto the metallic alloy. In this work, a cold spray technique was used to generate Ti6Al4V coatings onto a bulk of the same material. The mechanical response of these coatings was investigated by instrumented indentation tests. Additionally, instrumented indentation tests were also conducted on the particles used for the spraying process and on the substrate. The Young's modulus and the hardness of the coatings were compared to those obtained on the particles and on the substrate. The mechanical properties obtained on the coatings presented values similar to those obtained on the substrate. Also, the sprayed particles showed a hardness significantly lower than that obtained on the coatings.