Kinetic Metallization Repair of IVD Aluminum

Repair of damaged Ion Vapor Deposition (IVD) aluminum coatings, used on high strength steel components, generally requires a complete strip and rework of the part, or the use of brush plating with hazardous materials including Cadmium (Cd). Kinetic Metallization (KM) is a low temperature deposition process compliant with the recently released MIL-STD-3021 for cold spray materials deposition. The KM process, in conjunction with unique Al-Trans® (aluminum-transition metal) coatings, enables localized repair of damaged IVD aluminum coatings. Al-Trans® coatings, deposited using a handheld KM deposition gun on a Mobile Coating System (KM-MCS), were tested against brush-Cd repair baseline samples per the Joint Test Protocol (JTP-2007). The Al-Trans® coatings exceeded the baseline in all aspects of the JTP. This presentation will describe the repair process, provide a summary the test results, and show demonstrations of IVD-Al repairs on high strength steel components.