Abstract: A wire arc spray system (100) includes a plurality of arc spray subsystems (130) mounted to a movable carriage (120) on an x-y robot (110). Each arc spray subsystem includes a wire drive (132) that provides wire (133, 134) to a spray head (138) through a pair of lead cables (136). The spray heads are mounted for circular motion, such that the molten spray is applied to an underlying substrate in a swirling pattern. In one embodiment, the spray heads are mounted to a distal end of a rod (164) that extends through a swivel ball joint (166) and engages an eccentric link (162) fixed to a motor (160). The system applies an overlapping pattern of molten spray to provide excellent non-skid and adhesion properties. The system is particularly suited to spray coating with a wire comprising a hollow metallic portion and a core having ceramic particles.

Abstract: An arc spray bead for uniformly distributing molten metal. The head includes a pair of contact tips, a primary nozzle and a plurality of side nozzles. Wire is fed through the contact tips into an arc zone where the wire tips are melted. The plurality of side nozzles are located adjacent to the contact tips downstream from the primary nozzle. The primary nozzle blows the molten metal into the stream of the side nozzles. The nozzles atomize, cool and uniformly distribute the molten metal into a desired spray pattern. During spraying the feed wires are moved forward. Initially upon discontinuing the spraying, the feed wires are retracted in part to prevent fusing of the wire leads.