Thermally Sprayed Aluminum (1) By Amaro Bustamante Meen 3344

Application Thermally Sprayed Aluminum (TSA) is the process of having molten or softened aluminum strike a surface at a high velocity in order to have an aluminum coating. Opposed to other metals aluminum produces more of an exothermic reaction. This increases the degree of diffusion bonding which is part of how it sticks to the surface. The structure of the coating is affected by factors such as the flame temperature, the spray angle, and shrinkage. (2)

Process The thermal spray can be sub categorized by its feed material as either a powder, wire, or rod. The flame spray is actually only one of many methods to spray the specimen onto the surface. (3) (4)

Uses Typical uses of TSA would include: • Buoyancy Air Cans • New Offshore Platforms •    Suction Piles •    Valves •    Fenders & Docks •    Ship Topsides •    Flare Booms •    Access Bridges •    Riser Systems (6) Thermal spraying has the versatility of substrate choices like aluminum, steel, stainless, and even some plastics As well as the coating material choices such as tungsten carbides, stainless steels, ceramics, nickel. (6) (7)

Reasons to Use Aluminum is known to have a high corrosion resistance and a high wear resistance. By spraying a surface with aluminum it can prevent corrosion and wear by sacrificing itself to protect what is under its layer. Such is the case with this image in which the before and after image of a steel coated with aluminum can be seen. This particular specimen was exposed to a constant saline mist over the course of 1500 hours in which the aluminum turned darker due to the oxide film. However, due to the lack of red iron corrosion product it shows the absence of a steel substrate corrosion. (5)

References http://www.beeverlimited.co.uk/metal_spraying.html http://www.gordonengland.co.uk/tsc.htm http://www.tstcoatings.com/flame_spray.html http://www.fwgts.com/documents/what-is-thermal-spray.pdf http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11666-012-9810-x http://lonestarcorrosion.com/tsa.htm http://www.precisioncoatings.com/what-is-thermal-spray.html