Description
This thesis investigates a novel process, called Ballistic Manufacturing (BM), for the rapid processing of thick film coatings. In BM a high speed carrier projectile is accelerated into a molten metal stream, to provide for an ultra-rapid melt coating on the carrier. The effects of melt temperature and the thickness of the molten metal stream on the microstructure and coating thickness of a binary Sn-0.7Cu alloy are discussed. Solidified microstructures showed two-dimensional plate-like eutectic cells surrounded by a eutectic network characteristic of hypoeutectic solidification. Different process parameters yielded average eutectic surface cell sizes ranging from 80 to 125 ?m and coating thicknesses from 2 to 15 ?m. Increased molten material temperature resulted in decreased eutectic cell size and coating thickness, whereas increased thickness of the molten material resulted in increased eutectic cell size and coating thickness. The results from this thesis prove the feasibility of BM as an ultra-rapid competitive process for the production of thick films.
