Deposition characteristics of Al-12Si alloy coating fabricated by cold spraying with relatively large powder particles

In this paper, the microstructure, microhardness and adhesive strength of Al-12Si coating produced by cold spraying were investigated. It is found that a thick, dense and well bonded Al-12Si coating could be produced by cold spraying with a relatively large powder through the control of spray conditions. The critical velocity for large Al-12Si particles was lower than that of small Al-12Si particles. The as-deposited Al-12Si coating had the same crystal structure as Al-12Si powder. The localized interface melting occurred resulting from both the adiabatic shearing upon impact and the thermal effect of hot gas. Some fine Si particles precipitated in α-Al matrix because of the thermal effect of hot gas during coating deposition. The dispersed Si particles in Al-12Si coating improved the coating microhardness.