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The requirement to join two dissimilar aluminium alloys produced with two different technological processes, extrusion and die casting, is fundamental in the automotive sector. In this research study was proposed the use of the Friction Stir Welding process to replace the traditional welding process. First of all was verified the weldability by using different process parameters and the results are reported in terms of microstructure and join aspect, which influence the Vickers microhardness. They show a suitable combination between the selected process parameters and the tool choice but also suggest to test different process conditions. Tool geometry and workpiece setup have to be redesigned. The final aim of this preliminary study is to find the best process conditions in order to proceed with components and machine tools design in the perspective of procedure industrialisation for hybrid vehicles battery pack assembly.

The present work focuses on the pultrusion of pre-impregnated glass-reinforced polypropylene tapes. An appositely designed laboratory-scale pultrusion line, consisting of a heating/forming die and a cooling die, was used. The temperature of the advancing materials and the pulling force resistance were measured by using thermocouples embedded in the pre-preg tapes and a load cell. From the analysis of the experimental outcomes, we gained insight into the nature of the material–machinery interaction and the transitions of the polypropylene matrix. The cross-section of the pultruded part was analyzed by microscope observation to evaluate the distribution of the reinforcement inside the profile and the presence of internal defects. Three-point bending and tensile testing were conducted to assess the mechanical properties of the thermoplastic composite. The pultruded product showed good quality, with an average fiber volume fraction of 23% and a limited presence of internal defects. A non-homogenous distribution of fibers in the cross-section of the profile was observed, probably due to the low number of tapes used in the present experimentation and their limited compaction. A tensile modulus and a flexural modulus of 21.5 GPa and 15.0 GPa, respectively, were measured.

Surface treatments on polymer-based materials are frequently used to enhance mechanical and physical properties. Cold spray is a metallisation technique that provides a viable solution to overcome ...

This study deals with an experimental investigation of the influence of friction stir welding parameters on the subsequent formability during incremental forming of aluminium alloy 6082-T6 blanks. Five welding conditions are considered, based on different combinations of rotational speed and feed rate. Truncated cones are chosen as benchmarks for single point incremental forming and tested up to their rupture limits. Formability is inferred measuring the cone height values, together with strain distributions, as recorded on the outer surface. The results clearly highlight the detrimental influence of a high feed rate of 100− 1at the friction stir welding stage, leading to a significantly reduced formability in incremental forming. Regarding other parameters, formability levels are similar to those of the unwelded blanks. Local mechanical properties are investigated by means of hardness measurements, to assess the evolution through the weld, and conventional tensile tests. Digital image correlation is used to properly capture the highly heterogeneous strain field and as a result, to estimate the local yield stress levels. The stress mismatch between the heat affected zone and the nugget zone presents the same trend as the formability. Finally, scanning electron microscopy observations of the fractured samples in tension highlight more differences between the base material and the welded specimen than between the different welded ones. This study therefore emphasises the importance and relevance of an integrated mechanical design approach, considering both welding and forming processes as a whole.

The quality of Liquid Composite Molding (LCM) manufactured components is strictly related to the fibrous preform impregnation. As Darcy’s law suggests, the resin flow is influenced by the pressure gradient, geometrical features of the reinforcement, and resin viscosity. The former two parameters are dictated by the requirements of the component and other constraints; therefore, they are hardly modifiable during the process. Resin preheating increases its fluency, thus enhancing the impregnation and saturation flow, and reducing the mold filling time. In the present work, a microwave heating system has been integrated within a vacuum bag resin infusion process, to analyze the effect of the online preheating on the fiber impregnation. To monitor the resin flow a dielectric sensors-based system is used. Results from resin infusion tests conducted with and without the resin pre-heating were compared: the outcomes indicated an advance of approximately 190 s of the flow front when microwave heating is applied with respect to the unheated tests.

In recent years, new revolutionary paradigms generally indicated using the term Industry 4.0, have been conceived and are progressively applied in several manufacturing systems to achieve a smarter...

Currently, the application of pultruded profiles is increasing owing to their advantages, such as light weight, high strength, improved durability, corrosion resistance, ease of transportation, speed of assembly, and nonmagnetic/nonconductive characteristics. This review analyzes the main application fields of elements produced by pultrusion manufacturing processes: bridges and bridge decks, cooling towers, building elements and complete building systems, marine construction, transportation, and energy systems. Analysis of the scientific literature in relation to the mechanical behavior of pultruded elements is presented as well. Finally, this review outlines the future study possibilities, giving the researchers and practitioners the directions for deeper investigation of specific features and exploration of new ones concerning the mentioned aspects of pultruded fiber-reinforced polymer composites.

Flexible manufacturing systems have attracted increasing interest especially to produce highly customized components or for manufacturing of prototypes/small batches. Among others, the single point incremental forming (SPIF) process has been successfully applied in several non-structural applications, e.g. architectural lining, decorative element manufacturing and rapid prototyping. Nevertheless, accuracy, toolpath definition and reduced productivity are still relevant issues, in particular when tailored banks are processed. The present work discusses an integrated manufacturing route combining welding and forming of aluminum sheets. More specifically, attention has been focused on the strain distribution induced by the single point incremental forming of friction stir welded AA6082 sheets. The used method consists in the generation of digital 3D twins of the undeformed and deformed shapes by means of ScanProbe and Matlab software packages. The displacement field, evaluated from the comparison between initial and final positions of surface points, is then used as input in a FE model that estimates the final strain distribution. Forming limit diagrams (FLD) have been evaluated for welded sheets and compared to the forming limit curve of conventional forming processes. Obtained results have been finally compared with strain distributions detected in fusion welded sheets.

Injection pultrusion (IP) process is a manufacturing technique for producing advanced fiber reinforced polymers having constant cross-section. Unlike the traditional pultrusion process, in which fibers are impregnated passing through an open bath of liquid resin, in IP the uncured polymer is directly injected within the advancing reinforcement in a close chamber generally connected to the die. This paper investigates the resistant forces evolution in IP process at different pulling speeds. Resistant loads are mainly due to the interaction between the advancing material and the die cavity walls, inducing residual stress and, eventually, internal defects. These loads are typically classified in three main contributes, namely fiber collimation, viscous drag and solid friction. The latter two are directly related to the resin degree of cure, and, therefore, the overall resistant load is dramatically sensitive to the changes in operative parameters. In this paper, the resistant force acting along the die cavity has been measured using a dedicated experimental setup. Measurements were performed during the pultrusion of glass-reinforced polyester with different pulling speeds to evidence the variations in resistant load as a function of the process velocity.

Typically, the development of new forming products is performed using numerical tools such as finite element analysis software. However, the precision of these tools is dependent on the input data, particularly the one related to constitutive models and material parameters. These parameters are generally used to calibrate the model for each specific material, knowing a priori that the material behavior and properties are constant within the part/specimen. However, in welded blanks, the material behavior and properties drastically change with the proximity to the welded zone and, therefore, new challenges arise with the calibration of constitutive models for such heterogenous materials. The present study is part of a larger project that deals with the incremental forming of welded aluminum blanks. These are initially joined by Friction Stir Welding (FSW), and tensile tests were carried out both on the base material and on the welded material, transversely to the weld, using a Digital Image Correlation (DIC) device to capture the strain field. Moreover, hardness measurements were carried out. Results show the evolution of change on the material behavior and properties throughout three well distinct areas, namely: the nugget zone at the center of the weld; the thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ); and the heat affected zone (HAZ), making it possible to create a suitable elastoplastic model with multi-linear piecewise function parameters, properly calibrated for the friction stir welded material. A finite element model updating scheme was applied using a smooth interpolation scheme for the DIC data with outliers and gap control. The calibration process resulted in a model with quite good accuracy in comparison to experimental results.

The cold spray deposition process has gained interest as a promising technique for producing metallic coatings on polymers and composite materials thank to its low working temperatures. However, poor adhesion of metallic particles on polymeric substrates and the brittle nature of these materials lead to generation of cracks under the impact of the sprayed particles, limiting its application to polymeric matrix composite. The interposition of an intermediate metallic layer over the thermoset composite to be coated has been claimed to improve the adhesion of the sprayed particles and the formation of a stable link between the metal coating and the underlying polymer panel. The present work discusses a methodology that integrates the manufacturing of glass reinforced epoxy panels having functionalized surface and the subsequent production of a dense metallic layer by cold spray. Pure copper and titanium metallic powders, having spherical and irregular shape respectively, were placed on the top of the stack of dry glass fiber fabrics. Resin infusion process was then applied to impregnate the glass fabrics providing the simultaneous functionalization of the composite panel. In order to assess the effectiveness of the produced substrate, and of the proposed procedure, metallic coatings have been finally deposited on manufactured composite panels by means of a low-pressure cold spray facility. Regardless the spraying condition (namely gas temperature, stand-off distance, sprayed particles), copper samples showed a remarkable erosion of functionalized layer after cold spray process with pronounced damages of the composite substrate. On the other hand, effective depositions have been observed on titanium samples under specific combination of process parameters.

In liquid composite molding (LCM) processes a catalyzed resin is forced to flow through a dry fibrous preform, opportunely arranged within a mold. The pressure gradient, positive or negative depending on the particular process, drives the uncured liquid flow at a flow rate which relies on fluid viscosity and preform porosity and permeability. Nowadays, sustainability reasons are pushing the market to the wider usage of natural fibers, such as hemp, jute, flex among others, as an interesting alternative to traditional glass and carbon artificial textiles. This manuscript describes an experimental/numerical approach to analyze the preform permeability and the impregnation flow in the LCM process using different textiles, based on glass, carbon and natural fibers. Unidirectional flow tests were performed using a laboratory scale LCM setup, constituted by a sensed mold in order to dielectrically monitor impregnation and saturation flows. The position of the unsaturated flow front was detected also by means of a camera monitoring the resin flow though milled eyelet sealed using transparent material. The permeability was also numerically inferred using the FlowTex software for all the investigated cases. Numerical and experimental outcomes were finally compared and discussed.

The increase in the number of structural applications of composite materials, especially in the aerospace and automotive industries, has led to a demand for robust models to simulate composite forming processes. The mechanical behaviour of composite materials during forming is relatively complex due to their fibre-matrix composition. Many research studies have been conducted in the past 25-plus years into experimental methods for the characterization of the mechanical behaviours that are exhibited by textile-reinforced composite material systems during forming and into the development of material models to be used in computer codes for forming simulations. These studies have been presented and discussed in the ESAFORM conferences since 1997 and especially in the 'Composite Forming Processes' mini-symposium launched in 2001. This article presents a survey of the research carried out in this context. Mechanical characterization tests specific to composite forming are presented as well as recent analysis techniques such as digital image correlation and X-ray tomography. Three-dimensional mechanical behaviour laws, in particular hypo- and hyperelastic, have been developed and extended to second gradient models. Specific shell approaches have been presented and their application to wrinkling analysis. Resin flow and permeability analysis is another area of research in composite forming processes which are discussed in this article. Research on certain processes is also presented, in particular thermoforming of thermoplastic composites, wet compression moulding, pultrusion, automated fibre placement and three-dimensional printing. This comprehensive review of the works of multiple research groups is a recognition of the breadth and depth of efforts that have been invested into the understanding of the manufacturability of textile-reinforced composite materials.

Surface metallization is amongst the recent trends in the polymer and polymer matrix composites (PMCs) research industries to improve the electrical and thermal properties and exploit the subsequent utilization in the aerospace sector. Specifically, polymer matrix composites have been subjected to the limitations in form of high temperature exposure and substrate deterioration. The present study encompasses a new strategy in the manufacturing and metallization process. The first stage in the manufacturing of hybrid thermoplastic-thermoset composite was the hot compaction which comprised of primary preform preparation enabling the partial impregnation of the thermoplastic resin through the fabric reinforcement layer. The subsequent stage entailed the preform vacuum bagging and conducting catalyzed thermoset resin impregnation. The vacuum resin infusion step included a cocuring cycle to generate a fiber reinforced composite comprising of thermoplastic and impregnated thermoset resin with improved adhesion. Resin flow front movement was analyzed during the resin infusion process. Composite metallization was achieved through cold spray (CS). CS process parameters influence on the coating quality and characterization of laminates through microstructural analysis and results have been reported. The hybrid composite with thermoset resin through thickness and in-plane impregnation was achieved with the intact adherent thermoplastic layer after the curing cycle. In the CS metallization, the effective operative window of stand-off distances (SoD) and temperature has been determined.

Robotic layup is a novel process developed to face the increasing demand for automation, flexibility, repeatability, and achieving high-quality composite materials in relevant industry fields, such as aerospace and automotive. This process is based on laying prepreg tissues on a mold using the action of a robotic arm equipped with a specific end-effector, which is usually composed of rollers and punches. The main drawback of the robotic layup is the occurrence of wrinkles and defects while moving, placing, and processing the pre-impregnated tissues. This issue is particularly evident in the processing of complex-shaped surfaces. The robotic arm cannot replicate exactly the movement of a human operator, following the geometry of the surfaces with a proper angulation like a human wrist. Moreover, operator hands can be set in a different shape just changing the configuration of the fingers, adapting themself in different curvatures. The demand of the industry to improve automation requires that the robotic manufacturing systems replicate as much as possible the gesture of the operator. In this study, an end-effector capable to replicate the human movements during the hand layup of fibrous tissues or fabrics has been conceptualized.

In recent years remarkable efforts have been devoted to the study of the formability of tailored blanks processed by friction stir welding (FSW) by means of numerical and experimental approaches. This study aims to perform an inverse analysis to calibrate the constitutive law of FSW blanks produced with different parameters. The evaluated mechanical behavior will be employed in future studies to investigate the formability of such elements by single point incremental forming. This study analyzes friction stir welded blanks in aluminum alloy AA6082-T6 produced with different advancing velocities and tool rotational speeds. Coupons for tensile testing have been cut and collected from the FSW blanks. The longitudinal dimension of the coupons was perpendicular to the tool advancing direction, with the welding centerline located at the middle point of the coupon. From the same welded blanks further coupons have been collected to conduct microhardness testing of the cross-section in the welding zone. Data from digital image correlation (DIC) have been adopted to detect the zones of local variation of the mechanical properties related to the peculiar microstructure determined by friction stir welding. In particular, the data were used as input to feed an iterative numerical routine to calibrate the constitutive law variable as a function of the distance from the welding centerline.

Cure-induced deformations are inevitable in pultruded composite profiles due to the peculiarities of the pultrusion process and usually require the use of costly shimming operations at the assembly stage for their compensation. Residual stresses formed at the production and assembly stages impair the mechanical performance of pultruded elements. A numerical technique that would allow the prediction and reduction of cure-induced deformations is essential for the optimization of the pultrusion process. This study is aimed at the development of a numerical model that is able to predict spring-in in pultruded L-shaped profiles. The model was developed in the ABAQUS software suite with user subroutines UMAT, FILM, USDFLD, HETVAL, and UEXPAN. The authors used the 2D approach to describe the thermochemical and mechanical behavior via the modified Cure Hardening Instantaneous Linear Elastic (CHILE) model. The developed model was validated in two experiments conducted with a 6-month interval using glass fiber/vinyl ester resin L-shaped profiles manufactured at pulling speeds of 200, 400, and 600 mm/min. Spring-in predictions obtained with the proposed numerical model fall within the experimental data range. The validated model has allowed authors to establish that the increase in spring-in values observed at higher pulling speeds can be attributed to a higher fraction of uncured material in the composite exiting the die block and the subsequent increase in chemical shrinkage that occurs under unconstrained conditions. This study is the first one to isolate and evaluate the contributions of thermal and chemical shrinkage into spring-in evolution in pultruded profiles. Based on this model, the authors demonstrate the possibility of achieving the same level of spring-in at increased pulling speeds from 200 to 900 mm/min, either by using a post-die cooling tool or by reducing the chemical shrinkage of the resin. The study provides insight into the factors significantly affecting the spring-in, and it analyzes the methods of spring-in reduction that can be used by scholars to minimize the spring-in in the pultrusion process.

Heat treatments are widely used in industry to improve the surface behavior of components exposed to external mechanical actions and, therefore, undergoing wear phenomena. If compared to the conventional thermal treatments, induction hardening is an interesting candidate solution when the effect should be limited to the surface without affecting the microstructure and properties at the material core. Furthermore, this solution is appealing considering energy saving and cost reduction. In this process, an intense electric alternating current flows through a conductive coil enveloping the component to be treated. Such current generates a magnetic field and, as a consequence, eddy currents arise in the conductive work-piece providing a heat generation by the Joule effect. Due to this mechanism, the induction heating is characterized by faster heating rates with respect to the heating in a hot furnace. On the other hand, the induction hardening process requires a more challenging control of the operative parameters, namely the current density and frequency and the coil advancing speed. Numerical modeling and simulation are recognized as a very useful tool to predicting the effects induced by a treatment, avoiding undesired insufficient- or over-heating. The present work deals with a finite element numerical approach to the simulation of an induction hardening treatment of a steel component. The model is based on the subsequent solution of two numerical submodels. Firstly, the electro-magnetic field generated by the current flowing through a coil surrounding the processing part is inferred solving the Maxwell governing equations. Then, the magnetic field is used as input load for the subsequent heat transfer transient finite element model. The influence of the current density and frequency as well as other processing parameters on the magnetic and thermal fields is discussed.

This work deals with the effective modelling and simulation of the behavior of stiffened panels, when subjected to compressive (buckling) loads. Within the Finite Element Method, two numerical strategies are compared, namely the Riks method and the displacement incremental control method, including damping effects. The capabilities and limitations of both approaches are explored for two distinct benchmarks: a panel with a blade stiffener, and a panel with a T shaped stiffener. In both cases, material (plasticity) and geometrical (large displacements) nonlinearities are considered, together with a modelling strategy based on shell elements. Following previous works of the authors, each panel accounts for initial geometric imperfections coming from friction stir welding joining operations. The paper shows a number of considerations that must be undertaken when choosing between one of the two modelling strategies. Both benchmarks involve a number of challenges from the point of view of modelling unstable structural behaviors, and therefore the proposed benchmarks can represent a valid set of case studies in the understanding of the capabilities of current numerical simulation codes.

The current market requirements are increasingly pushing the industry towards the manufacturing of highly customized products. Tailored blanks are a class of sheet metals characterized by the local variation of properties, attributable to the presence of different materials, different thickness distribution, and thermal treatments. In the manufacturing of tailored welded blanks, welding and forming processes cover a central role. In this framework, friction stir welding demonstrated to be a suitable candidate technology for the production by joining of tailored blanks. Indeed, sheet metals welded by this solid-state welding process typically exhibit high formability when compared to the conventional welding methods. Due to the improved formability, a good deal of attention has been recently given toward the single point incremental forming (SPIF) process and its integration with FSW. Remarkable efforts have been dedicated to the numerical modeling of the SPIF of metallic alloy sheets jointed by FSW. The main criticisms in these models are related to the definition of the mechanical properties of the materials, which are affected by the structural alteration induced by the FSW. The present work aims to model the local alterations in the mechanical properties and to analyze how these local characteristics affect the formability of the blanks. With this purpose, a 20 mm wide sample collected from a FS welded blank of aluminum alloy AA6082 has been modeled using the mechanical properties variation achieved in a previous work. The influence of this local variation in properties has been assessed using a Finite Element Model Updating strategy.

In recent years, the concepts of industry 4.0 are widely spreading in many different sectors, from agriculture to home automation, from transportation systems to manufacturing processes. One of the pillars of this concept is related to the use of robotic cells. The focus of the present work is the robotic automated layup of dry fibrous preforms to be employed in liquid composite molding (LCM) processes. In particular, the article describes a software tool developed to simulate the automated placement and layup of fiber fabrics and tissues on complex shape molds by means of a robotic system. The tool has been coded in Matlab language. An end-effector has been appositely designed for the fiber layup and it has been included in the model. The simulation provides as output the path generation and the configuration of the robotic arm and of end effector along the entire layup process. The implemented code has been compared with the commercial software RoboDK.

Peculiarities of the pultrusion manufacturing process lead to the occurrence of spring-in deformations, whereas their value depends on the pulling speed. In this article experimental and numerical analysis was carried out for glass fiber/vinyl ester resin 75 × 75 × 6 mm L-shaped profiles pultruded at pulling speeds of 200 and 600 mm/min. Spring-in angles of produced profiles were determined on the same day of manufacturing when profiles cooled down to room temperature. Higher pulling speeds provoked increased values of spring-in. 2D numerical model accounting for thermo-chemical and mechanical composite’s behavior during pultrusion was implemented in ABAQUS software. Cure Hardening Instantaneous Linear Elastic (CHILE) constitutive law was used to describe matrix resin Young’s modulus evolution. Since both unidirectional (UD) rovings and fabric material were utilized, effective mechanical properties of UD and fabric layers were calculated in accordance with Self-Consistent Field Micromechanics (SCFM) approach. Spring-in angles determined within experimental and numerical studies were compared and a good correlation was found: the errors were 12.6% and 6% for the pulling speed of 200 and 600 mm/min, respectively.

This paper deals with the dissimilar friction stir lap welding of AA2198 and AA7075 sheets. The influence of processing parameters, namely welding speed and tool rotational speed on joint features, microstructure, and mechanical properties were investigated implementing a full factorial design of experiments. During the welding process, axial and transversal forces were continuously measured using a dedicated sensed fixture aiming at the correlation of this processing parameter with the quality of the achieved joints. The reported outcomes showed a very narrow processing window in which it was possible to avoid the formation of defects while the formation of an hook was observed for all the joints welded. The influence of the weld bead morphology on the lap shear strength was elucidated proving that the strength is ruled by the hook morphology. A correlation between the process parameters and the forces arising was also attempted. The final microstructure of the joints was studied and explained and also compared with the microhardness results.

Polymer matrix composites are finding never-ending widespread uses in the last decades, one recent tendency is to metallize their surface to further widen their field of application. Cold-spray deposition is one of the most promising techniques that can be adopted to this aim. Cold-spray deposition on polymers is in its early stage and more experimental work is required to fully understand the phenomena ruling the deposition. In this paper, the results of nanoindentation measurements on cold-spray coatings on various substrates will be presented and discussed. Polypropylene was used as matrix while carbon and glass fibers have been used as reinforcement, both steel and aluminum have been used as feedstock material for the cold-spray deposition. Nanoindentations tests have been then carried out on all the different samples, the influence of the fibers and of the powders sprayed on the behavior of the coatings is discussed in light of the experimental outcomes.

The present work discusses the enhancement of mechanical properties, namely wear and impact resistance, of ultra-high molecular weight poly-ethylene (UHMWPE), exposed to cryogenic treatment under different conditions. The cryogenic temperature was found to play a vital role in the structure and properties of UHMWPE, whereas − 140 °C for a soaking period of 12 h was found to enhance the specific wear rate by 48% and 35% in dry and lubricated condition, respectively, while the impact strength increased by 175%, without hampering its structural stability. This finding contradicts the popular belief that a minimum 24 h of cryo-treatment at − 185 °C is essential to bring out the necessary changes in any polymer. Conversely, cryogenically treating the polymer at − 185 °C weakens and deteriorates the material, while lower temperature (− 80 °C) demonstrates to be insufficient to induce the desired cryo-structural modifications. The FTIR and XRD analysis revealed that the mechanical properties enhancement in UHMWPE is credited to the cryo-structural rearrangement of highly dense carbon backbone, which in turn reduces the inter-chain distance and brings the adjacent crystalline segments closer to each other, thereby increasing the crystallinity as well.

This paper deals with the dissimilar friction stir lap welding of AA2198 and AA6082 thin sheets. The influence of processing parameters, namely welding speed and tool rotational speed on joint features, microstructure, and mechanical properties were investigated by implementing a full factorial design of experiments. During the welding process, axial and transversal forces were continuously measured using a dedicated fixture equipped with sensors aiming at the correlation of this processing parameter with the quality of the achieved joints. The microstructural analysis provided a detailed view of the metallurgical features such as hook, and its relative influence exhibited on the welded joints. Microhardness distribution and lap shear behavior were assessed and correlated with the metallurgical analysis.

This paper investigates the dissimilar friction stir lap welding of AA2198 and AA7075 sheets. The influence of processing parameters, namely welding speed and tool rotational speed on joint features, microstructure, and mechanical properties were studied by implementing a full factorial design of experiments. Axial and transversal forces were continuously measured during the welding process using a sensed fixture aiming at the correlation of processing parameters, forces, and quality of the achieved joints. Obtained outcomes showed hook formation for all the combination of parameters and the existence of a very narrow processing window in which it is possible to avoid the formation of internal defects, such as grooves and tunnels. The influence of the weld bead morphology on the lap shear strength was elucidated proving that the strength is ruled by the hook morphology. The microstructure of the joints was studied and discussed considering also the microhardness distribution. Graphical abstract

Cold Spray is an innovative technology to create coatings through the impact of metallic particles on substrates. Its application to composites’ surfaces is recently attracting the attention of the scientific community thanks to the possibility to functionalize and improve their thermal and wear properties. Within this context, the generation of the first metal-to-composite layer is fundamental. This work presented an experimental investigation of a composite panel, reinforced with glass fibers and coated with aluminum particles. The coating investigation was carried out through active pulsed thermography, analyzing the thermal response of single and double hatches. The thermal outputs were compared with a standard microscopic analysis, with a critical discussion supporting the identification of factors that influence the thermal response to the pulse: (1) layer’s thickness, (2) cold spray coverage, (3) layer compactness, (4) particle-substrate adhesion, (5) particle’s oxidation, and (6) surface roughness.