COLD SPRAY FORMING OF TITANIUM COMPONENTS

Cold spray forming, a new technology, still under development, that looks promising to directly fabricate solid, near-full-density, free-form shapes of many metals, at or near room temperature without melting and solidification.  The Cold Spray process is best described when powder particles in a supersonic jet of compressed gas impact a solid surface with enough sufficient energy to cause plastic deformation and consolidation with the underlying material;  a process thought to be analogous to explosive welding.