Microstructural bonding features of cold sprayed face centered cubic metals

Cold spraying is a coating technique, in which the formation of dense, tightly bonded coatings occurs only due to the kinetic energy of high velocity particles of the spray powder. These particles are still in the solid state as they impinge on the substrate. This study correlates physicomechanical properties of the fcc metals Al, Cu, and Ni with the respective microstructures of their cold sprayed coatings in the light of scanning and transmission electron microscopical investigations. It is found that the microstructures of these coatings differ substantially from each other, and the results are discussed in the light of melting temperatures and stacking fault energies. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.