Heat Treatment of Cold-Sprayed Titanium and Aluminum Alloys

Author(s):

Nick Sotiropoulos, Issac Nault, Tristan Bacha, Adolfo Blassino, and Joshua McGuigan

Abstract:

Cold-sprayed aluminum and titanium microstructure and mechanical properties were evaluated in terms of how they would perform in both the as-sprayed and heat-treated conditions. While the aluminum alloys formed a dense as-sprayed deposit, the oxygen and hydrogen present on the surface of the feedstock material led to blistering or significant increases in porosity during heat treatments at temperatures greater than 400 °C. Conversely, the as-sprayed, commercially pure titanium had about 10%–14% porosity, but there was no significant increase to the porosity during heat treatment. It was concluded that decreasing and managing the hydrogen and oxygen content in the aluminum feedstock powder is critical if the deposited material will receive heat treatment. Further evaluation of the feedstock, commercially pure titanium will be required to achieve the density, and therefore ductility, that can be found in literature for similar materials.