Very novel metal spray process

Citation

(2002), "Very novel metal spray process", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 54 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ilt.2002.01854ead.007

Very novel metal spray process

Very novel metal spray processKeywords: Metals, Spray deposition

Inovati (Santa Barbara, California) has successfully developed a low-temperature metal deposition technique, Kinetic Metallization (KM). KM is capable of depositing fully dense, adherent coatings of a variety of metals on standard metal surfaces without costly surface preparation. Coatings of pure copper, stainless steel, nickel, chromium, aluminum, cobalt, niobium, and other metals, as well as alloys based on these metals, are possible on such surfaces as steel, aluminum, titanium, copper, brass, etc. Additionally, braze powders (e.g. silver, copper, aluminum or nickel-based) can be sprayed out on to parts to be joined and coatings have also been demonstrated on ceramic substrates. The feedstock material for KM is powder. The cost of KM is comparable with competitive processes (see Plates 4-9).

Since the powders are deposited at well below their respective melting points, the coatings exhibit very fine grain size and one can avoid heat distortion of the workpiece being coated and interdiffusion of multi-layer coatings. Spray forming of such metals as pure aluminum and Al-SiC composite has also been successfully carried out with fine microstructure in the final material.

Plate 4 KM production unit for metal deposition with rudimentary NC control

Plate 5 200X SEM micrograph of 0.005" thick coating of pure Ni on 6061 Al

Plate 6 Steel telecommunications equipment rack with KM aluminum grounding strips

Plate 7 100X micrograph of aluminum-based composite coating deposited on to plain carbon steel

Plate 8 400X micrograph of KM coating of 25% Cr-balance Cu deposited on to copper alloy

Plate 9 400X micrograph of KM coating of pure aluminum on 2024 Al sheet

One successful application has been the spraying of aluminum grounding strips on steel telecommunications equipment racks made by Hendry Telephone Products. Inovati has received federal R&D contracts from the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO), Army, and Navy. In addition, the Australian Navy recently tested a KM-sprayed aluminum coating on an Mg alloy, which showed excellent salt-fog corrosion resistance up to 168 hours. Other applications can include replacement of organic plating (e.g. hexa-valent chrome).

Inovati is set up both to contract coat and to sell spray-coating equipment and consumables for KM.

For more information, please contact: James Intrater, Principal Engineer, Inovati, PO Box 60007, Santa Barbara, CA 93160-0007, USA. Fax: (805) 571-6200; E-mail: jintrater@inovati.com; Web site: http://www.inovati.com