L. Ajdelsztajn, J. Ye, J. M. Schoenung, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA; B. Jodoin, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
In this study, a composite powder with 10 wt. % particulate B4C and 90 wt. % nanocrystalline (NC) 5083 Al was fabricated using cryomilling. The cryomilled composite powder was cold gas dynamic sprayed onto aluminum substrates in order to form dense, light weight, hard coatings. Optical microcopy, SEM and TEM were applied to investigate the microstructure of the nanocomposite coating. The powder microstructure consisted of B4C particles uniformly distributed in the nanocrystalline 5083 matrix and no microstructural changes were observed after the deposition process. Excellent interface between B4C particles and the nano 5083 matrix was also observed. This work also demonstrates that the same process/technology can be used for near net shaping nanocomposite parts for military and high performance engineering applications.
Summary: In this study, a composite powder with 10 wt.% particulate B4C and 90 wt.% nanocrystalline (NC) 5083 Al powder was successfully cold sprayed onto aluminum substrates. High quality nanocomposite coatings were fabricated and investigated using electron microscopy and indentation techniques.
