Integrated characterization of cold sprayed aluminum coatings

Cold spray (CS) technology is a recent development for producing dense, oxide-free metallic and cermet coatings with attributes not achievable by established atmospheric thermal spray (TS) techniques. Little or no thermal component (i.e. high temperature) is introduced in the CS process; deposit formation relies mainly on dynamic compaction as particles impact the substrate. In this paper, we discuss and evaluate the relationships between the microstructure, properties and residual stresses in CS Al coatings, combining indentation, dilatometry, resistivity measurements and neutron diffraction techniques. In addition, we provide mechanistic arguments for the evolution of such characteristics with post-deposit annealing.