Optimizing Properties of Cold Sprayed CuAlFeB Powder on EN AW 7075 Substrate for Corrosion and Wear Resistance Applications

This work summarizes an attempt to develop a coating with mixtures of Cu, Al, Fe, and B powder through the cold spray (CS) process. The addition of B to AlCuFeB Complex Metallic Alloys (CMA) has been found to reduce friction forces. The addition of B to CMA alloys can also improve the material’s hardness, toughness, and resistance to wear and corrosion. These properties make AlCuFeB CMA compounds highly desirable for use in a range of applications, including in the aerospace, automotive, and industrial sectors (Moore in Proc R Soc London Ser A, Math Phys Sci 212(1111): 452–458, 1952). In this study, mixtures of powders bearing the composition Cu₄₁Al₄₀Fe_18.18 B_.82 were mechanically milled for 5 h and subsequently deposited onto an EN AW 7075 substrate. This study examined the microstructure, hardness, the effect on corrosion and wear behaviour, and the wettability of the coating. Results show that the contact angle of the surface increases significantly with increasing temperature and pressure during CS. The contact angle measurement indicates an average enhancement in the non-wetting characteristics of the coated samples. A notable reduction in the corrosion rate from 438.31 \({\upmu }_{\text{m}}\)/Y to 5.3092 \({\upmu }_{\text{m}}\)/Y was reported due to increased stagnation temperature and pressure during CS. With the rise of stagnation temperature (400 to \(500^\circ \text{C}\) and pressure 10 to 20 bars), the specific wear rate was reduced from 1.76024x \({10}^{-05}\frac{{\text{m}}^{3}}{\text{Nm}}\) to 9.96x \({10}^{-06}\frac{{\text{m}}^{3}}{\text{Nm}}\).