Abstract
Tensile testing of thermal spray coatings is currently covered by a variety of internal company specifications and generally by ASTM C-633. It is a highly recognized fact that liquid epoxies, on average, produce higher results in side by side comparisons with their film counterparts. However, the liquid epoxies show a higher standard deviation in those same comparisons. This raises questions about the interaction of liquid epoxies with porous thermal spray coatings. Tensile data from side by side comparisons was analyzed and optical microscopy work performed to determine how the epoxies affected the coatings and if the epoxy infiltration actually occurs. In the case of porous plasma coatings, it is shown that liquid epoxies penetrate into the coatings and, thereby, increase the apparent tensile strength.
