Abstract
The flattening behavior of individual splats plays a fundamental role in the elaboration of thermal spray coatings. In the PROTAL process, an in-situ laser treatment is coupled with spraying operations. It was shown that a pulsed laser irradiation can effectively suppress the splashing phenomenon of splats. This aspect was primarily attributed to the efficient removal of surface adsorbates/condensates. But, it may also be enhanced by the modification of the surface topography that improves the surface wettability. Therefore, this study deals with the effects of the surface microroughness modifications on the surface wettability induced by the PROTAL process. Several roughness parameters characterizing the surface topography are also discussed from a static wettability point of view.
