University of Arkansas

Nanomech, Inc.

P&s Global Holdings LLC

Justin B Lowrey

Wenping Jiang

Ajay Prabhakar Malshe

Robert T Fink

Ultrasonic spray deposition (USD) used to deposit a base layer on the substrate, followed by chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) to introduce a binder phase that creates a composite coating with good adherence of the binder to the initial phase particles and adherence of the composite coating to the substrate, is disclosed. We have used this process to create coatings consisting of cubic boron nitride (cBN), deposited using USD, and titanium nitride (TiN) applied using CVI in various embodiments. This process can be used with many materials not usable with other processes, including nitrides, carbides, carbonitrides, borides, oxides, sulphides and silicides. In addition, other binding or post-deposition treatment processes can be applied as alternatives to CVI, depending on the substrate, the coating materials, and the application requirements of the coating. Coatings can be applied to a variety of substrates including those with complex geometries. The application also describes apparatus or equipment designs used to perform ultrasonic spray deposition.

Methods and apparatus for making coatings using ultrasonic spray deposition

Methods for creating coatings composed of a single material or a composite of multiple materials, beginning with ESC to deposit the base layer and then using other methods for the binding step beyond CVI. Also, for certain materials and applications, some pre-processing or pre-treatment of the coating materials is necessary prior to deposition in order to achieve a satisfactory coating. This application discloses methods for pre-deposition treatment of materials prior to ESC deposition. It also discloses methods for post-processing that provide additional functionality or performance characteristics of the coating. Finally, this application discloses certain apparatus and equipment for accomplishing the methods described herein.

Growing community of inventors

Fayetteville, AR, United States of America

Justin B Lowrey