Cold Spray of Metals: Recent Advances in Performance, Applications, Deposition Optimization, and Processing Strategies

The advancement of industrial automation has been supported by the increasing adoption of additive manufacturing technologies across infrastructure, automotive, aerospace, and nuclear applications. Among these additive manufacturing techniques, cold spray offers several advantages, including reduced oxidation and minimal phase transformation. Given the rapid development of cold spray, a timely review is needed to summarize recent developments. The most recent advances in cold spray of metals have been summarized, with a focus on their applications and performance. Moreover, the relationships among deposition parameters, processing techniques, and coating quality are established. Recommended strategies for application-specific material systems and coating properties are also outlined. In addition, current challenges in cold spray, including relatively low deposition efficiency and high porosity, are examined, along with strategies to optimize material system dependent deposition parameters. Despite parameter optimization, processing strategies (pre-processing, in-situ processing, and post-processing) are essential for tailoring the final coating properties. Unlike other reviews that primarily focus on a single processing strategy, the present review summarizes the combined effects of each processing strategy on cold-sprayed coatings. Additionally, this work provides a hybrid recommended design route, tailored to the material system and dominant failure mode, to meet specific performance and application requirements.