Metallization of Polymeric Structures With a Hybrid Thermal Spray - Laser Cladding Process

第六集团技术公司和阿尔伯塔大学希望在该Engage Grant的赞助下解决的直接行业问题是开发一种混合制造工艺，该工艺利用热喷涂和激光熔覆在聚合物结构上存款厚金属和陶瓷或金属陶瓷增强金属层。可以设想，这些金属或金属增强层将用于为聚合物结构提供磨损保护，同时在需要时产生热能，以用于防冰或除冰方案。在风力涡轮机和航空航天工业中，诸如碳纤维增强聚合物（CFRP）的聚合物材料被用作制造诸如涡轮机叶片和机翼的翼型结构的选择材料;然而，由于这些材料的低导热性，在操作期间在翼型上的冰形成导致边界层的破坏，增加阻力，并且造成严重的安全问题。因此，开发能够容易地大规模生产并且能够提供表面加热的新型防冰或除冰系统对于改善翼型件的性能和安全操作将是理想的。

The immediate industry problem that Group Six Technologies and the University of Alberta wish to resolve under the auspices of this Engage Grant is the development of a hybrid fabrication process that utilizes thermal spraying and laser cladding to deposit thick metal and ceramic- or cermet-reinforced metal layers on to polymeric structures. It is envisaged that these metal or metal-reinforced layers will serve to provide wear protection to the polymeric structures while contemporaneously generating heat energy, when needed, to serve in anti-icing or de-icing protocols. In the wind turbine and aerospace industries, polymeric materials such as carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) are used as the material of choice to fabricate airfoil structures such as the turbine blades and wings; however, due to the low thermal conductivity of these materials, ice formation on the airfoils during operation causes the disruption of boundary layers, increases drag, and poses serious safety problems. Therefore, the development of novel anti-icing or de-icing systems that can be easily mass-produced and that can provide surface heating would be ideal to improve the performance and safe operation of the airfoils.