OPTIMIZATION OF COLD SPRAYING OF NEUTRON-ABSORBING (Al+B 4 C) COMPOSITE COATINGS

The possibility of obtaining neutron-absorbing composite coatings from a powder mixture of aluminum and boron carbide by cold spraying has been studied. The dependences of the deposition efficiency and the residual content of boron carbide in the coating on its content in the feedstock powder mixture have been derived. The obtained regularities have been analyzed and an approach has been developed to find the optimal boron carbide content in the powder mixture from the point of view of creating effective neutron-absorbing coatings. It has been shown that the highest productivity of the spraying process is achieved when using the optimal powder composition with a volume content of boron carbide of about 0.5.