Abstract
Traditional metal spraying techniques, which have been used in industry for decades, such as Wire Flame and Twin-Wire Arc are classified as low velocity processes because the sprayed material is conveyed by compressed air having subsonic velocity. In order to improve the bond strength, HVAF was applied for thermal spraying for anticorrosion protection. In this paper, zinc-aluminium (Zn-Al) coatings thermal sprayed using the HVAF method are analysed. The thermal sprayed coatings were characterized by the standard techniques, such as light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, salt spray and bond strength tests. The results show that thermal sprayed coatings have a dense structure, a high bonding strength, low presence of oxides and high resistance to corrosion. This is attributed to high flow/particle velocities and relatively low combustion temperatures of HVAF in comparison with other thermal spraying technologies. High spray rate and good coating quality make the HVAF thermal spray method a viable alternative to the conventional Wire Flame and Twin-Wire Arc methods for thermal spraying of Zn-Al coatings.
