Coated article and method and material of coating

In a method for coating a metal surface, the surface based on an element selected from the group consisting of Fe, Co and Ni, the steps of:

• impinging on the metal surface a plurality of heated, substantially non-molten MCr-base alloy particles in which the element M is selected from the group consisting of Fe, Co and Ni, the particles deforming, fusing and cooling upon contact with the surface and with other applied particles to deposit on and bond to the surface a fused coating matrix having a matrix outer surface and including voids, lattice vacancies and retained deformation structure;
• diffusing into the matrix and into the metal surface through the matrix outer surface a filler metal deposited from a halide vapor produced from a powder including a metal selected from the group consisting of Al and alloys including Al, filling the voids and recrystallizing the matrix to produce from the matrix a dense, ductile coating layer metallurgically bonded with the metal surface through a diffusion portion, the coating layer having an average aluminum content in the range of about 8-20 weight percent aluminum.