In the modern automotive industry, the maintenance of the vehicle during its life cycle is increasing in importance due to both economical and environmental considerations. A new frontier is the reparation of large parts, originally made by fusion, by the addition of material. The standard technique in the field is the use of TIG welding, but in the last few years Cold Dynamic Gas Spray (CDGS) has started to show many promises in supplanting TIG repairs. The main advantage of CDGS is the absence of thermal stresses in the repaired zone with the elimination of thermal distension treatment of the part. In this paper we study the use of CDGS to repair wear damage on a commercial aluminium engine block in comparison with the standard repair procedure with TIG. The result obtained shows that CDGS is an effective technology for industrial-level repair.

Tensile properties and fracture location of AA2139-T351 friction stir welded joints are studied in the as-welded and post-weld aged condition. The experimental results show that when the joints are free of welding defects, they fail on the advancing side of the HAZ exhibiting a large amount of plastic deformation. When the revolutionary pitch exceeds a threshold value, some micro-defects are formed in the weld nugget due to insufficient heat input. In this case, the joints fail near the weld center, and the fracture occurs in a mixed mode, both ductile and brittle. However, being less ductile, post-weld aged joints are less defect-tolerant and, then, they fracture closer to the weld center, showing a reduced elongation at fracture and an UTS within the order of magnitude of the as-welded joints.