TRACK: Emerging Technologies
Hatch and its Canadian partner, Polycontrols Inc. are working with students and research professors at McGill University and Memorial University to further develop a novel process that utilizes high-pressure, cold-gas dynamic spraying (“cold-spray”) to apply titanium metal to damaged valve parts. The goal is to produce repaired parts that are as reliable as new parts, but with a lower total cost than that of replacement parts and with less environmental impact. Cold-spray is a promising technology, in that it achieves this without the use of expensive shielding gases, and it has a lower energy consumption than casting, forging or electric arc welding.
This presentation covers the research team's most recent developments in titanium cold spray repair of concave and convex surfaces, replication and repair of various damage patterns on curved surfaces, and identifying spraying parameters (gas pressure and temperature, stand-off distance, traverse speed, spray angle) for optimal deposition of material. This includes adhesion strength, mechanical properties (yield strength, modulus, ductility, hardness), impingement wear resistance, and sliding abrasion resistance of repaired surfaces.