R. Kestler, NAVAIR, Cherry Point, NC
Navy helicopter magnesium gearbox housings experience a harsh corrosion environment leading to pitting damage of the magnesium substrates. Most of the corrosion occurs on mounting surfaces, supports and lugs where dissimilar metal is in contact with the magnesium substrates. NAVAIR and Fleet Readiness Center East are involved in efforts to evaluate the use of aluminum and/or aluminum alloy coatings to repair corrosion damaged magnesium substrates. These efforts target an emerging technology called cold spray. Cold spray is a supersonic particle deposition process by which powder particles are deposited by means of ballistic impingement upon a suitable substrate at supersonic velocities to form a coating or free-standing structure. Fundamentals of the cold spray process, repair opportunities, project description and initial test results will be presented.
