Enhancing Additive Manufacturing Applications through Fundamental Studies and Advanced Post-Processing Techniques in Cold Spray Technology

Abstract

Over the last decade, considerable effort has been dedicated to the application of cold spray copper coatings. Among those, the significance of the two applications stands out; corrosion protection of used fuel containers for the long-term management of used nuclear fuel and employing copper for its antimicrobial properties. A crucial step in implementing these advancements in specific applications is ensuring that the coatings have the necessary mechanical properties to meet demanding requirements, which depends on selecting the appropriate post-processing method. The motivation behind this research lies in the expansion of the potential of cold spray copper by introducing techniques aimed at enhancing the coating quality to achieve the desired performance. It is essential to underscore that the quality and consistency of the feedstock powder play an important role in producing homogeneous and uniform coatings. Thus, it is imperative to store and handle this powder meticulously to preserve its quality. Furthermore, it is of utmost importance to investigate whether the choice of powder characteristics or the storage conditions of the powder have an impact on the spraying process and the resulting coatings. In preparation for the study on the effects of storage, our objective is to establish precise material modeling parameters that will be used in the examination of the storage effect.