Strengthening Surfaces With Titanium Alloy Thermal Spray Coatings
Frequently, when titanium and titanium alloy thermal spray coatings are referred to, they are most often found in military, chemical, marine, aerospace, and aviation industries. These alloys’ further widespread application is, however, severely limited due to several characteristics. These are as follows:
- High-speed friction flammability
- High temperature flammability
- Poor abrasion resistance
- High friction coefficient
- Low hardness
When working to improve weak surface properties of a titanium alloy, one must still maintain base titanium alloy’s weight and strength characteristics. Particularly in certain industries, special use requirements make this even more essential.
Titanium Alloy Modification Materials
There are several categories of commonly used modification materials in the field of titanium alloy surface modification. They are as follows:
- Ceramics
- Metals
Where titanium alloy is concerned, the following are common surface modification methods:
- Laser cladding
- Laser surface alloying
- Thermal spraying
- Vapor deposition
- Electroplating
- Micro arc oxidation
- Ion implantation
- Chemical heat treatment
Preparing Surfaces
For the strengthening and protection of a surface, one of the most important technologies today is thermal spraying. This process offers flexible and simple operation, as well as high efficiency. An impressive array of coating materials can be sprayed because of the wide heat source temperature range. Common methods used for thermal spraying include the following:
- Oxyacetylene flame spraying
- Deflagration spraying
- Arc spraying
- Plasma spraying
- Supersonic flame spraying
To prepare anti-corrosive coatings that are wear resistant yet maintain a certain bonding strength and density, the thermal spraying method has been widely used. It is easy to generate pores into thermal spray coatings, which have an obvious layered structure. Most of the bonding between the substrate and coating is mechanical. Under heavy load conditions, service requirements can be difficult to meet when this type of bonding strength is present.
Improvements In the Field
Thanks to constantly executed research and development in the field of thermal spray technology and equipment used in thermal spraying, numerous advancements have been made. Progress is shown on a frequent basis in the following fields:
- Thermal spray application
- Thermal spray process development
- Thermal materials
- Thermal spray equipment development
What’s So Special About Titanium Alloy?
In general, metal alloy coatings are popular because they can improve resistance to wear and corrosion, are suitable for part dimension restoration, and are utilitarian as bonds for thermal spray coatings.
Why is titanium so popular as a metal-based coating? Titanium is noted not only for its low density but it’s high strength. Where weight-to-strength ratio is concerned, the highest of any structural metal is held by titanium. Nearly everywhere on earth titanium can be found as a mineral, as in rocks and bodies of water. Titanium dioxide, its most common compound, is used in the production of white pigment. Other compounds of titanium are used frequently as chemical catalysts.
In industrial settings, such as aerospace applications, titanium can be alloyed with other metals such as iron, aluminum, and molybdenum, to enhance its innate powers.
Titanium can match the strength of many steel forms despite being 45% lighter. This coupled with its properties of corrosion resistance make it ideal for numerous high-performance applications. Some of these include jet engines, medical devices, electronic goods, military applications, and more.
Where to Find Thermal Sprayed Titanium Alloy Coatings
A&A Coatings offers titanium coatings, as well as other metal alloy coatings such as nichrome, stainless steel, nickel aluminum, bronze, zinc, and more. If you would like to find out what metal coatings can do for your industry, or which metal-based coating is most appropriate, contact one of our knowledgeable representatives today.
