Experimental Study of Cold Sprayed Metallic Coatings on Thermoplastic Matrix Composites

Abstract

In this research activity, the manufacturing of metallic coatings on polymer-based panels through the low pressure cold spray technique was studied. Aluminium particles were sprayed for the metallization and carbon fibre composite materials with thermoplastic matrix (PP, PA66) were used as substrates. Different deposition parameter combinations have been set to investigate the feasibility of the process; SEM analyses were carried out to study the coating surface morphology and the interface interaction between particle and substrate. The results showed that the CS process is an effective technique to create aluminium coatings on polymeric matrix composite materials: compact coatings can be obtained if the process parameters are properly set.

Characterization of Cold-Spray Coatings on Fiber-Reinforced Polymers through Nanoindentation Tests

“…In fact, larger values of SoD lead to lower momentum of the impinging particles, resulting in particle rebounding, thus in a poor and thin coating. This result was corroborated by the available literature [23].…”

“…The nozzle moved at a set speed (equal to 5 mm/s) and a set standoff distance when spraying onto the substrate. The metallization strategy was defined taking into account literature prescriptions and preliminary experimental trials [23,25]. In fact, different coating tracks were preliminarily produced by varying the process parameters in a wide range (inlet gas temperature: 100-600 °C, inlet gas pressure: 0.4-0.8 MPa, standoff distance (SoD): 10-80 mm).…”

“…Therefore, aiming to fill this lack of knowledge, the scope of this paper is to release the first results regarding nanoindentation tests performed on cold-spray metallic coatings on FRP laminates and to give some insights on the interpretation of these results. The laminates analyzed consist of a polypropylene matrix, chosen due to the best coating adhesion performances obtainable through cold-spray technology on thermoplastics, as verified in previous works [23,24], and a glass and carbon fibers reinforcement that guarantees high values of mechanical parameters. To take into account the particular characteristics of the specimens analyzed in this activity, different models have been applied in order to study the load-penetration depth curves, characterizing the coating, and establish which indentation model can better fit the case studied.…”

Towards antiviral polymer composites to combat COVID‐19 transmission

“…[71,74,75] It is, therefore, feasible that thin metal and metal oxide coatings could be used to provide polymer composite materials with the ability to resist viruses, although this has not yet been evaluated. Thin metal coatings can be applied to polymer composites using techniques such as cold spray, [76][77][78] pulsed gas dynamic spray, [79] magnetron sputtering, [80] detonation gun spraying [81] and 3D printing. [82] A continuous metallic film should be sufficient to impart anti-viral properties to polymer composite materials.…”

Cold spray deposition of metallic coatings on polymers: a review

“…In the last years, most of the interest of the additive manufacturing community has been devoted to the fabrication of hybrid structures [13][14][15] to meet the more demanding requirements of aerospace and automotive industries [16]. In this scenario, a lot of researchers of cold spray tried to produce metallic coatings on polymeric substrates to couple the lightweight of polymers with the wear resistance, physical properties and hardness of metals [17][18][19]. Several applications of polymers and polymer matrix composites, such as CFRPs (carbon fibre-reinforced polymers) or GFRPs (glass fibre-reinforced polymers), are still excluded, to date, because they are not capable to ensure some specific properties successfully, such as electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, erosion, radiation, and lightning protection.…”