Influence of the Spray Angle on Characteristics for Atmospheric Plasma Sprayed Hard Material Based Coatings

This paper presents an investigation of the influence of the spray angle on thermally sprayed coatings. Spray beads were manufactured with different spray angles between 90° and 20° by means of atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) on heat-treated mild steel (1.0503). WC-12Co and Cr₃C₂-10(Ni20Cr) powders were employed as feedstock materials. The spray beads were characterized by a Gaussian fit. This opens the opportunity to analyse the influence of the spray angle on coating properties. Furthermore, metallographic studies of the surface roughness, the porosity, the hardness and the morphology were carried out and the deposition efficiency as well as the tensile strength were measured. The thermally sprayed coatings show a clear dependence on the spray angle. A decrease in spray angle changes the thickness, the width and the form of the spray beads. The coatings become rougher and their quality decreases. In addition, the spray process becomes inefficient as the deposition efficiency declines. Especially, below 30° for Cr₃C₂-10(Ni20Cr) and below 50° for WC-12Co a significant change in microstructure was observed.