The cold spray technique is still in its innovation stage. This process is similar to other thermal coating techniques with the additional benefit of lower working temperature than the melting energy of the feedstock material. In this study, a new coating-substrate system is developed by using the 80%Ni-20%Cr feedstock powder sprayed by this technique on a superni 601 superalloy substrate. The coating microstructure depends upon both the substrate and coating material properties, and thus, coating obtained in this study has a unique microstructure. The coating microstructure developed and tested in this study by scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques is found to be suitable for boilers and incinerators.
INTRODUCTIONThe cold spray coating deposition technique is a relatively new member of the thermal spray family but with the added advantage that coating particles remained in the solid state in the as-sprayed coating [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. This property of the cold spray process prompted the authors to develop and study the new coating-substrate system by this process for different applications, especially for corrosive environments at temperatures near to 900 C. The study related to the cold spray process is reported in detail in the earlier publications of the authors [8,9].The base material chosen in this study for cold spraying (superni 601 grade superalloy) is for providing strength to the newly developed system, at high working temperature of boilers and incinerators. The 80Ni-20Cr (wt.%) coating composition is selected for providing elements for the formation of the corrosion resistant oxide scale at high operating temperature. Though, the coating composition is good enough for the corrosive environment, the composition is not a sole criterion for providing effective corrosion protection. The development of the required coating microstructure is equally important for this purpose. The microstructure of the coating should be able to block the transport of ionic species and elements from both the environment and the substrate. If the microstructure is not good enough,