Novel electro-spark deposition (ESD) technology and applications

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Electro-spark deposition (ESD), a micro-welding process, is increasingly used to apply surface coatings for repair of damaged high value precision products or modify their surfaces for a abroad range of aerospace, defense, automobile, nuclear and medical applications. Huys Industries Limited, a leading company on resistance welding consumables headquarted in Ontario, Canada has developed expertise over a few decades in the use of ESD coating to improve electrode tip life in resistance spot welding (RSW) of Zn-coated automotive steel sheets. Based on many years' collaborations with the University of Waterloo, Huys has recently developed new ESD technologies (ESD machines and coating materials) to improve RSW electrode tip life. This research is to further develop Huys' patented and patent-pending ESD applicators and power supplies and expand their applications on other coating/workpiece combinations. Specifically, the objectives of this research are to (1) Improve the design of Huys' ESD machines (including power supplies and applicators) based on studying the effects of electrical and applicator parameters on coating characteristics and performance; (2) Improve RSW electrode tip life with TiB2 coating based on studying and understanding of relationships between process parameters, coating characteristics and electrode tip life; and (3) Expand Huys' ESD technologies into others application areas (i.e., new coating and workpiece combinations) based on studying relationships between process parameters, coating characteristics and performance. The knowledge developed through this work has the potential to improve productivity and quality of manufactured products in many industrial sectors. This work also aims to train 3 graduate students, one undergraduate co-op student, one post-doctoral fellow and one research engineer each year and these highly-qualified personnel (HQP) are badly needed by the Ontario and Canada manufacturing sectors.