Characterization of Cold Spray Titanium Supersonic Jet

Titanium is widely used in aerospace, highly corrosive environments, and implants due to unique properties such as high strength to weight ratio and excellent corrosion resistance. Cold gas dynamic spray (cold spray) technology, in contrast to current fabrication technologies, has provided the potential for titanium to be utilized in broader industrial applications and at lower cost. Particle velocity is the most important parameter in the cold spray process that leads to successful deposition of titanium at supersonic speeds. In this study, particle image velocimetry (PIV) is utilized to characterize supersonic flow field for a commercially pure (CP) titanium powder. The results represent experimentally determined velocity for titanium particles under supersonic conditions with respect to propellant gas, spray temperature, and stagnation pressure. The high velocity flow region outside of the cold spray nozzle was significantly extended using helium. An increase in stagnation temperature results in a high velocity region close to the axis of the cold spray nozzle. In contrast, an increase in pressure expands the high velocity regions in the cold spray plume. The PIV that is a whole-flow-field process is a practical characterization technique for optimization of parameters and validation of the future models for the cold spray process.