Amorphous Steel Coatings Deposited by HVOF and Cold Gas Spray Processes

Abstract This paper considers the deposition of a commercial steel powder with a chemical composition that allows the coating to obtain an amorphous structure using thermal spray techniques. The processes used are characterized by high cooling speeds of the particles after the impact upon the substrate. The powders were sprayed with two different processes: cold gas spray (CGS) and high velocity oxyfuel (HVOF). A comparison between the samples obtained reveals that only the CGS coatings are completely amorphous; the HVOF samples exhibit nanocrystalline phases, detected with XRD analysis and SEM micrographs. Furthermore, the CGS coatings are more compact and show lower hardness with a comparable Young’s modulus. A hypothesis is that the formation of the amorphous structure is related to plastic deformation at impact (due to the high energy of the particles), rather than to the temperature; the mechanism could resemble that of a severe plastic deformation process. Additional thermal treatments and mechanical tests are in progress to investigate the toughness and other mechanical properties of the coatings.