Use of blended elemental powder mixtures for alloying in cold spray processing

Description (excerpt)

GOVERNMENT INTEREST The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States for all governmental purposes without the payment of any royalty. FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure relates generally to the manufacturing of alloys, more particularly, to cold spray additive manufacturing alloys. BACKGROUND Cold spray processing deposits metallic powders at supersonic speeds onto a substrate. The deposition of the metallic powders at supersonic speeds causes the metallic powders to undergo plastic deformation and form an alloy. Cold spray processing relies on plastic deformation in order for particles to deposit successfully. In high strength and high hardness particles, plastic deformation is limited or requires significantly higher amounts of energy than conventional cold spray processing systems can provide. For these reasons, high strength and high hardness materials can be unsprayable or can have very poor deposition qualities. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Various deficiencies in the prior art are addressed below by the disclosed method for cold spray processing alloys. In various aspects, a method of cold spray processing may be provided. The method of cold spray processing may include providing a substrate. The method of cold spray processing may further include preparing a feedstock powder. The feedstock powder may include a homogeneous blend of a plurality of constituents. The plurality of constituents may be configured to yield a desired alloy when heated. The method of cold spray processing may further include cold spraying the feedstock powder onto a substrate. The spraying of the feedstock powder may cause the feedstock powder to form an article on the substrate. The method may further include heating the article to a temperature sufficient to induce alloying until the plurality of constituents have alloyed for an amount of time sufficient for homogenization. The method may further include cooling the article to a room temperature causing the article to form an alloy structure. In some embodiments, the plurality of constituents may include a plurality of pure elemental powders. In some embodiments, the plurality of constituents may include a plurality of pre-alloyed powders. In some embodiments, the plurality of constituents may include a plurality of ceramic powders. In some embodiments, the plurality of constituents may include a plurality of intermetallic powders. In still other embodiments, the plurality of constituents may include a combination of at least one pure elemental, ceramic, pre-alloyed, or intermetallic powder. In some embodiments, the article may form a coating on the substrate. In some embodiments, the method may include alloying the coating to the substrate. In some embodiments, the method may further include removing the article from the substrate after the cold spraying and before heating the article. In some embodiments of the method, heating the article may include a multi-step profile. In some embodiments of the method, heating the article may include a specific atmosphere. In some embodiments, the specific atmosphere may be a vacuum. In some embodiments, the specific atmosphere may include an inert condition. In other embodiments, the atmosphere may include a reducing condition. In still other embodiments, the atmosphere may include an oxidizing condition. In some embodiments, the atmosphere may include a carburizing condition. In some embodiments of the method, the alloy structure may be a ceramic. In some embodiments, the substrate may include a three-dimensional shell-like structure. In some embodiments the three-dimensional shell-like structure may be one of a nose cone or rotor-blade erosion cap. In some embodiments, the coating may form a liner for a small or large caliber gun. In some embodiments of the method, the plurality of constituents may include 90% by weight titanium, 6% by weight aluminum, and 4% by weight vanadium. Additional objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be r