Influences of the spray deposition process on the properties of copper and copper alloys

The microstructure and the mechanical properties of spray deposited materials depend critically on the conditions that are present during deposition and may be modified through changes of the processing parameters. Within the scope of the special research program at the University of Bremen, investigations of the influences of various process and production related parameters on the spray deposition behaviour and the resulting material properties of copper based materials have performed. In order to achieve a fundamental analysis, the investigations were at first focused on pure copper to eliminate influences of alloying elements. Based on these results, investigations of several copper alloys, especially Cu–Sn, Cu–Ni and Cu–Cr with different compositions have been started. The present paper gives an overview of the microstructure development of sprayed pure copper and selected copper alloys in dependence on the process parameters and the process technology supplemented by results of numerical process simulation.