Abstract
The High Velocity Oxy-Fuel (HVOF) combustion spray process has been used successfully for spraying polymers and polymer-matrix composite coatings. Spraying of polymer ceramic composite powders produced by ball-milling nominal 60 ..m Nylon-11 with different size scale (7 nm to 15 µm) ceramic reinforcements is an effective method of producing semi-crystalline micron and nano-scale reinforced composite coatings. Polymer matrix composite coatings with nominal 10 vol. % of different size scale silica and alumina reinforcements have been produced. The levels of filler loading in both the feedstock powders and HVOF-sprayed coatings were determined by thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) and compared using ashing. Particle size analysis, microstructural characterization and the elemental compositions of the feedstock powders and as-sprayed coatings were determined by optical and scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The influence of dispersion, distribution and size of the reinforcing phase was studied and correlated to coating microstructure and process parameter variations. The scratch resistance of the coatings was measured as a function of reinforcement size and compared with those of the pure HVOF-sprayed Nylon-11 coatings.
