Cold Spray Sn Coating on the Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer

Abstract Because of their high specific strength, carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs) are widely used in the aerospace industry. Metallization of CFRP by cold spraying as a surface modification method can improve the low thermal resistance and electrical conductivity of CFRP without the need for high heat input. Herein, we cold spray a Sn coating on cured CFRP substrates and examine the Sn/epoxy interface. The results suggest that the Sn coatings are successfully obtained at a gas temperature of 473 K and indicate no severe damage to the CFRP substrates. The stress and plastic strain distributions at the cross-section of the Sn/CFRP interface when a Sn particle is impacted onto the CFRP substrate are obtained using the finite element method.