Abstract
The use of liquid precursors in plasma spraying makes it possible to produce coatings with more refined microstructures than in conventional plasma spraying. Depending on the injection device, the liquid feedstock is injected into the plasma jet in the form of liquid jet or droplets. The instabilities on the liquid-gas interface cause the mechanical break-up of liquids into drops that are subjected to further break-up until the droplets reach a stable state or evaporate. The process break-up may strongly influence the size, trajectories and, therefore, treatment of the droplets in the plasma medium. This study deals with the experimental observation of liquid break-up under plasma spray conditions when using a conventional DC plasma torch with radial injection by means of a pneumatic injection system that can deliver either liquid stream or blobs.
