A morphological approach to the modeling of the cold spray process.

1 Introduction
Cold spray is an innovative thermal spraying technique, where the projected powder adheres to the
substrate thanks to the plastic deformation at impact. he piling up of particles produces a deposit
characteri!ed by a peculiar microstructure, reflecting the piling up process of deformed powder
particles.
"iblio.
#ur approach to the modeling of the process is morphological in multiple senses. $irstly, we decided to
focus our attention on the morphology of the powder, taking advantage of the capabilities of
microtomography as a %& imaging method. hen, the mechanical behavior of the powder particles was
investigated by means of %& finite elements impact simulations, again focusing on the shape change of
the impactor and of the already deposited particles. $inally, aiming to reproduce by simulations the
microstructure of the cold sprayed coating obtained with the observed powder, a piling up model was
set up. his model uses the results of $' simulations to reproduce deformations at the impact and is
capable of following the deposition of thousands of particles.
( )aterials and process
*owder
*rojection conditions, fast camera measurements, show coating
% )orphology of the powder
)icrotomography
+hape analysis and classification
, $' )odeling
he model
+ome results
- he piling up model
he morphological simplified approach enables us to simulate the impact of thousands of particles.
Interpolating $' data. .sing classification to interpolate between shapes. /here are we at the moment.
0 Conclusions
ool covering a large scope, from the morphology of the powder to the microstructure of the coating.
#ptimi!ation of the powder in order to meet the required mechanical or functional properties required.
1 *erspectives