When a fragile surface requires a rock-hard, super-thin bonded metal coating, conventional manufacturing processes come up short. However, Cold Gas Dynamic Spray (CGDS) can do just that – with a big caveat. CGDS is enormously versatile, but is also very difficult to predict key aspects of the entire process. Now a temperature-based 3D model by Professor Tien-Chien Jen from the University of Johannesburg starts unlocking the mysteries of the CGDS film-growing process in the particle deposition zone.