Vicente Albaladejo-Fuentes

Centrifugal atomization is a rapid solidification process for producing metal powders traditionally limited to common metals and their alloys. This paper aims to introduce notable modifications in the development of centrifugal atomization as the research shift its focus to the production of novel materials such as metallic glasses. Emphasizing on the process parameters of atomization, mathematical calculations, and powder characterization, this research details the advancements in centrifugal atomization for Al-based amorphous powder production. The suitability of the centrifugal atomization cooling rate values for the production of Al-based metallic glasses was assessed using both theoretical and experimental approaches. This study has been accompanied by a comprehensive SEM, XRD, and DSC characterization analysis of the Al-based metallic glasses powders produced via centrifugal atomization. Overall, this paper summarizes the technical difficulty and application prospects of metallic glasses by centrifugal atomization and discusses the challenges and unresolved problems.

Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing (CSAM) is a thermal spray technique that is typically used for the repair of metallic components. One of the challenges of CSAM is to improve the geometrical accuracy of the sprayed parts, along with overcoming the inferiority of the mechanical properties of the deposits by tailoring their microstructure with different deposition strategies. For this, Cu, Al, Ti, and Ti6Al4V substrates were reconstructed by two Cold Spray (CS) methods: Traditional (T) and a novel strategy, Metal Knitting (MK). The final geometry, microstructure, and mechanical properties of the reconstructed parts by these two methods were compared. Additionally, we investigated the effects of annealing on the microstructure of sprayed components and its influence on adhesion, resistance to erosion, and abrasive wear. The results indicate that annealing effectively reduces the microstructure defects of the remanufactured parts (up to 30% porosity reduction) and improves the adhesive strength (i.e., below 30 MPa for as-sprayed deposits, and up to 160 MPa for heat-treated Ti4Al4V deposits). Notably, the abrasive and erosive resistance of the Cu and Al annealed deposits sprayed by MK gave very similar results compared to their bulk counterparts, suggesting that it is an efficient method for the reconstruction of damaged parts.

Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing (CSAM) produces freeform parts by accelerating powder particles at supersonic speed which, impacting against a substrate material, trigger a process to consolidate the CSAM part by bonding mechanisms. The literature has presented scholars’ efforts to improve CSAM materials’ quality, properties, and possibilities of use. This work is a review of the CSAM advances in the last decade, considering new materials, process parameters optimization, post-treatments, and hybrid processing. The literature considered includes articles, books, standards, and patents, which were selected by their relevance to the CSAM theme. In addition, this work contributes to compiling important information from the literature and presents how CSAM has advanced quickly in diverse sectors and applications. Another approach presented is the academic contributions by a bibliometric review, showing the most relevant contributors, authors, institutions, and countries during the last decade for CSAM research. Finally, this work presents a trend for the future of CSAM, its challenges, and barriers to be overcome.

Centrifugal atomization is a rapid solidification technique for producing metal powders. However, its wide application has been limited to the production of common metal powders and their corresponding alloys. Therefore, there is a lack of research on the production of novel materials such as metallic glasses using this technology. In this paper, aluminum-based glassy powders (Al₈₆Ni₈Y_4.5La_1.5) were produced by centrifugal atomization. The effects of disk speed, atomization gas, and particle size on the cooling rate and the final microstructure of the resulting powder were investigated. The powders were characterized using SEM and XRD, and the amorphous fractions of the atomized powder samples were quantified through DSC analysis. A theoretical model was developed to evaluate the thermal evolution of the atomized droplets and to calculate their cooling rate. The average cooling rate experienced by the centrifugally atomized powder was calculated to be approximately 7 × 10⁵ Ks⁻¹ for particle sizes of 32.5 μm atomized at 40,000 rpm in a helium atmosphere. Amorphous fractions from 60% to 70% were obtained in particles with sizes of up to 125 μm in the most favorable atomization conditions.

Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing (CSAM) is an emergent technique to produce parts by the additive method, and, like other technologies, it has pros and cons. Some advantages are using oxygen-sensitive materials to make parts, such as Ti alloys, with fast production due to the high deposition rate, and lower harmful residual stress levels. However, the limitation in the range of the parts’ geometries is a huge CSAM con. This work presents a new conceptual strategy for CSAM spraying. The controlled manipulation of the robot arm combined with the proper spraying parameters aims to optimize the deposition efficiency and the adhesion of particles on the part sidewalls, resulting in geometries from thin straight walls, less than 5 mm thick, up to large bulks. This new strategy, Metal Knitting, is presented regarding its fundamentals and by comparing the parts’ geometries produced by Metal Knitting with the traditional strategy. The Metal Knitting described here made parts with vertical sidewalls, in contrast to the 40 degrees of inclination obtained by the traditional strategy. Their mechanical properties, microstructures, hardness, and porosity are also compared for Cu, Ti, Ti6Al4V, 316L stainless steel, and Al.

The NOx storage mechanism on BaTi_0.8Cu_0.2O₃ catalyst were studied using different techniques. The results obtained by XRD, ATR, TGA and XPS under NOx storage–regeneration conditions revealed that BaO generated on the catalyst by decomposition of Ba₂TiO₄ plays a key role in the NOx storage process. In situ DRIFTS experiments under NO/O₂ and NO/N₂ show that nitrites and nitrates are formed on the perovskite during the NOx storage process. Thus, it seems that, as for model NSR catalysts, the NOx storage on BaTi_0.8Cu_0.2O₃ catalyst takes place by both “nitrite” and “nitrate” routes, with the main pathway being highly dependent on the temperature and the time on stream: (i) at T < 350 °C, NO adsorption leads to nitrites formation on the catalyst and (ii) at T > 350 °C, the catalyst activity for NO oxidation promotes NO₂ generation and the nitrate formation.

For decades, zinc- and aluminum-based coatings have been considered the best material choice for steel corrosion protection since they may act as a protective barrier and show sacrificial behavior. These coatings are often prepared by galvanizing methods. However, their application by thermal spraying techniques (wire arc spraying, WAS and flame spraying, FS) has been proved as a cost-effective solution for the preparation of long-term corrosion-resistant coatings. This review selectively collects the most relevant information about the application and performance of these two techniques on Zn and Al coatings for corrosion protection. The report summarizes separately the Zn and Al data from the effect of the spraying parameters on coating properties on the one hand, and the results shown in long-term studies carried out in relevant and real exposure conditions, on the other. Finally, this review includes a description and comparison of the most recent advances found out with the novel and emerging spray technique, cold gas spray, for the deposition of Zn and Al coatings for corrosion protection purposes. Nevertheless, the use of this technique has not reached the stage of wide industrial application yet and therefore its long-term performance is unknown, which suggests that there is still room for further development.