Cold Sprayed Metallic Coatings of Polymer-Matrix Composites

Polymer matrix composite (PMCs) are widely used in aerospace industry for both structural and cosmetic parts due to their good strength to weight ratio.  Though their limited surface propertes prevent their use in applications where electrical conductivity, wear resistance or thermal managment is essential.  Various applications would largely benefit from successful metallization of the PMCs. Among the different coating processes, cold spray (CS) is extremely attractive for the realization of metallic coating on composites, due to its low and controlled temperature characteristics compared to other thermal spray process.  However, very few results have been obtained and reported in the literature using the CS process to coat PMCs.  In this study, we demonstrate the feasibility of metallization of composite parts using the CS technique by defining the process spray window for various metallic feedstock powders. The effect of the spraying process parameters on the quality of the coating has been investigated. Microstructures, adhesion strength, microhardness, wear resistance and electrical conductivity were performed using different ASTM standards. Microstructures, adhesion strength, microhardness, wear resistance and electrical conductivity were performed.