Depositing Titanium Alloy Additive Features to Forgings and Extrusions Using the Cold Spray Process
Mr. Richard E. Blose1, Dr. Bryant H. Walker2, Ray M. Walker2 and Dr. Sam H. Froes3, 1Ktech Corporation, 1300 Eubank Blvd. SE, Albuquerque, NM 87123, 2Keystone Synergistic Enterprises, Inc., 1458 S. E. Ocean Lane, Port St. Lucie, FL 34983, 3Institute of Materials and Advanced Processes, University of Idaho, McClure Building, Rm 437, Moscow, ID 83844

Development of new low-cost methods for spray forming Titanium alloys is critical for many industries.  Direct fabrication technologies would have an impact on many industries because of the potential for quick manufacture of parts or additive features with minimal waste.  For example in the aerospace industry the buy to fly ratios can vary from 1.5:1 for turbine blades to over 22:1 for structural members.  The buy to fly ratio is the mass of material that is require to machine a part compared to the mass of material in the finished part.  For compressor and ring sections the ratio is approximately 12:1.  For this family of parts an analysis by Pratt & Whitney indicated that the buy to fly ratio could be reduced by 41% to 7:1 if cold spray could be implemented to deposit isogrids, structural ribbing, bosses, and flanges reducing the material, machining, and post processing required for the final part.  This paper examines the deposition of two Ti-6Al-4V powders one produced by plasma atomization and the other by the Armstrong process.  We will describe the techniques developed to reduce the porosity of the as sprayed Ti-6Al-4V coatings and the post processing techniques used to improve the properties of the coating.  Data will be presented describing bond strength, tensile properties, and toughness of the post-processed coatings comparing both types of powders. 

 

Session 6: Cold Spray 6: Applications

The Preliminary Program for International Thermal Spray Conference And Exposition (ITSC) (May 15-18, 2006)