Military Adoption of Kinetic Metallization – Status Report

The low temperature Kinetic Metallization (KM) deposition process is compliant with the recently revised MIL-STD-3021 standard for cold spray materials deposition. KM deposition process and equipment was supported through the US Military via multiple Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grants leading to delivery of KM deposition equipment to multiple branches. Coating application areas discussed in this paper include wear resistant tungsten-carbide and chromium-carbide hard-phase coatings. These are used for aircraft engines and landing gears surfaces with firm low temperature deposition requirements. Other areas include aluminum and magnesium dimensional restorations, in particular for Aircraft Mounted Accessory Drive (AMAD) gearboxes for F-18 platforms, and land vehicle housings and casings for the US Marines Corps.