Development of High Performance Barrier Coatings with HVAF and HVOF

In this section

Back to Core Research Programme AMorph – 4D Printing for Field Morphing Structures Automation of Composite and Hybrid Joining Process Coaxial Wire Additive Manufacturing Processes and In-Line Monitoring Tools Development of Coded Excitation Technique for Non-Metallic Pipes Inspection Development of Digital Twin technology as a demonstrator for real-time integrity assessment of crack growth in tensile specimens Development of Friction Stir Welding (FSW) for Hydrogen Fuel Storage Tanks Development of Leak-Before-Break Hydrogen Storage Composite Pressure Vessels With Polymeric Liner Establishing Assessment Methods for Determining Safe Service Limits of High-Temperature Materials in Extreme Environments Fracture toughness in aggressive environments: effect of crack monitoring techniques on test results In-process detection and non-destructive testing of electron beam weld imperfections Internal Bore Coatings for Applications in Corrosion and Hydrogen Environment Joining of Additively Manufactured Materials Long term behaviour of polymeric liner materials/coatings in hydrogen service Techniques for High Temperature Ultrasonic Inspection of Arc Welding Ultimate Leverage Fund

Project Code: 36693

Start date and planned duration: January 2026, 12 months

Objective

To evaluate the High velocity air fuel (HVAF) spraying process as a means of depositing high performance corrosion and wear resistant coatings for industrial service.
Evaluate and compare the performance of HVAF and HVOF coatings with respect to key quality and performance criteria to enable TWI Industrial Members to assess the viability of using the processes in industrial service across a wide range of applications.
Evaluate economics for HVAF and HVOF processes to enable TWI Industrial Members to assess the process economics of HVAF/HVOF as alternatives to other corrosion and wear mitigation solutions.

Project Outline

High Velocity Air Fuel (HVAF) spraying is a newly commercialised process variant of High Velocity Oxy-Fuel (HVOF) spraying. HVAF can deposit coatings at lower temperatures compared with conventional HVOF, enabling a key advantage to produce higher quality coatings from carbide cermet and metallic powders to protect parts against corrosion, wear, [MR2.1]and erosion. The application of thinner/denser HVAF coatings (10-50µm) also opens up cost/performance improvements over conventional HVOF sprayed coatings, which are typically ~300µm thick. This project will explore advantages of the HVAF process compared with HVOF, that is already widely used in the industry and will also provide information on material and process selections for harsh environments.

Coatings will be applied using advanced HVOF and HVAF processes which typically use finer powders compared to conventional HVOF, and assessed in terms of deposition characteristics, coating characteristics and performance:

Deposition characteristics
Microstructure
Microhardness
Impact damage tolerance
Adhesion strength
Corrosion performance

Industry Sectors

- Oil and Gas

- Aerospace

- Space

- Defence

- Construction and Engineering

Benefits to Industry

Assessment of alternatives to hard chrome plating to allow for legislation compliant coating applications.
Evaluation of a new technology, HVAF, with less widely available performance data but significant potential and interest.
Potential cost savings and quality improvements from new process and feedstocks.