Investigation of Cold Spray on Polymers by Single Particle Impact Experiments

Cold spray has been proven to be a viable method for metallization of polymers and polymer composites, although it has been reported that the mechanism of cold spray on polymeric substrates is different from the mechanism on metallic substrates. In this work, single copper particle impact experiments were performed on polymeric substrates as well as mild steel. Two gas temperatures were selected for each polymer substrate, with one leading to a particle temperature above the glass transition temperature when reaching the substrate and the other below. The particle-substrate interactions on different substrates were analyzed. Based on the results, the mechanism of cold spray on polymeric substrates is discussed and compared to that on metallic substrates.