Solid-State Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing of Ni-Based Superalloys: Processing–Microstructure–Property Relationships

Ni-based superalloys have been extensively employed in the aerospace field because of their excellent thermal and mechanical stabilities at high temperatures. With these advantages, many sought to study the influence of fusion-reliant additive manufacturing (AM) techniques for part fabrication/reparation. However, their fabrication presents many problems related to the melting and solidification defects from the feedstock material. Such defects consist of oxidation, inclusions, hot tearing, cracking, and elemental segregation. Consequentially, these defects created a need to discover an AM technique that can mitigate these disadvantages. The cold spray (CS) process is one additive technique that can mitigate these issues. This is largely due to its cost-effectiveness, low temperature, and fast and clean deposition process. However, its effectiveness for Ni-based superalloy fabrication and its structural performance has yet to be determined. This review aimed to fill this knowledge gap in two different ways. First, the advantages of CS technology for Ni-based superalloys compared with thermal-reliant AM techniques are briefly discussed. Second, the processing-structure-property relationships of these deposits are elucidated from microstructural, mechanical, and tribological (from low to high temperatures) perspectives. Considering the porous and brittle defects of CS coatings, a comprehensive review of the post-processing techniques for CS-fabricated Ni superalloys is also introduced. Based on this knowledge, the key structure-property mechanisms of CS Ni superalloys are elucidated with suggestions on how knowledge gaps in the field can be filled in the near future.