This article describes the technology of thermal spraying with regard to tribological applications. It introduces the basics of tribology and presents the fundamentals of thermal spraying and the relevant process variants and suitable materials. Specific application areas are described regarding the different forms of elementary movement in the corresponding tribological system. The article provides an overview of thermal spray coatings and possible uses for friction and wear control, besides operating as corrosion protection and a thermal barrier. The article provides examples that illustrate how tribological performance can be improved.

This article reviews the use of thermal spray polymer coatings as a replacement for paints. It discusses the applications of the thermal spray forming process. The article also provides information on the applications of thermal spray in metal processing, textile and plastics, and ceramic and glass manufacturing industries.

Significant expansion of thermal spray technology occurred with the invention of plasma spray, detonation gun, and high-velocity oxyfuel (HVOF) deposition technologies. This article provides a brief history of the major initiating inventions/developments of thermal spray processes. It provides information on feedstock materials developed for specific thermal spray processes.

This article describes the two commonly used standardized tests for determining the mechanical properties of thermal spray coatings: hardness testing and tensile adhesion testing. It discusses the destructive and non-destructive methods of residual-stress measurement. Electrochemical testing methodologies include two distinctly different methods: direct and alternating current impedance techniques for assessing the corrosion resistance of coating attributes. The article also reviews the testing methods for determining thermomechanical and environmental stability of thermal barrier coatings. It discusses the wear testing methodologies that are standardized by ASTM, including the pin-on-disk, block-on-ring, dry sand/rubber wheel, erosion, metallographic apparatus abrasion, fretting wear, cavitation, reciprocating ball-on-flat, impact, and rolling contact fatigue test. The article concludes with a discussion on the methods of testing abradability and erosion resistance in abradable coatings.

This article presents a summary of the current and new materials and processing techniques for thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) and environmental barrier coatings (EBCs). Different thermal spraying and postspraying processing techniques are required to produce coatings with optimal performance. For TBCs and EBCs, the elastic modulus, mechanical strength, and toughness values are extremely important in predicting failure behavior under stress and strain conditions, mainly for modeling purposes. Sand and/or volcanic ash particles are molten in the hot zones of turbines and deposited over TBCs and EBCs. They form calcium-magnesium-aluminosilicate (CMAS) glassy deposits.

High temperature corrosion may occur in numerous environments and is affected by factors such as temperature, alloy or protective coating composition, time, and gas composition. This article explains a number of potential degradation processes, namely, oxidation, carburization and metal dusting, sulfidation, hot corrosion, chloridation, hydrogen interactions, molten metals, molten salts, and aging reactions including sensitization, stress-corrosion cracking, and corrosion fatigue. It concludes with a discussion on various protective coatings, such as aluminide coatings, overlay coatings, thermal barrier coatings, and ceramic coatings.

This article discusses the various tests applied to a thermal barrier coating system and to the zirconia layer to establish thermomechanical, environmental stability, and thermal design properties such as coefficient of thermal expansion, specific heat, and thermal transport properties. Thermal fatigue testing and the test for evaluating oxidation resistance of the bond coat is also discussed.