Influence of Substrate Temperature on Formation of Micrometric Splats Obtained by Plasma Spraying Liquid Suspension

A new thermal spray process is under development in order to produce thin coatings (thickness lower than 50 µm), with a fine microstructure (grain size smaller than 1 µm). It consists in injecting in a Direct Current (D.C.) plasma jet a suspension containing submicronic particles of the material to be deposited. To study the interaction between the plasma jet and the suspension, a system based on a pendulum allows the collection of particles at different distances from the injection point. In this paper the effect of substrate temperature upon the formation of micrometric zirconia splats was studied, glass and stainless steel were used as substrate materials.