Cold Spraying of IN 718-Ni Composite Coatings: Microstructure Characterization and Tribological Performance

INCONEL 718 superalloy (IN 718) is frequently used in highly aggressive environments, such as aerospace and gas turbine engines, where excellent mechanical properties, creep-, fatigue- and oxidation-resistance performance at high and cryogenic temperatures are required. Recent studies have successfully cold sprayed IN 718, showing great potential mainly in maintenance and repairing fields. However, due to the low plastic deformation, the manufacture of IN 718 cold sprayed coatings often requires the use of expensive propulsive gases or high working parameters to enhance deposition efficiency, with a significant increase in production costs. This paper investigates for the first time the addition of Ni to IN 718 powders in order to increase plastic deformation and interparticle bonding strength. Four composite coatings were deposited via a high-pressure cold spray process using nitrogen as propulsive gas, considering different IN 718 mass fractions in the feedstock: C1 (0 wt%), C2 (25 wt%), C3 (50 wt%), C4 (75 wt%). The coatings are examined in terms of microstructural characteristics and tribological performance. The addition of IN 718 particles significantly improves the mechanical properties of the coatings, despite an increase in porosity, which however does not exceed 1%. The tribological performance of the four coatings is investigated using a pin-on-disk test, demonstrating that the coating wear resistance behaviour improved as the IN 718 content increased. Analysis of the wear mechanism shows that C4 coating has a different wear behaviour than the other coatings, thus achieving the best wear-resistance performance.