Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the creep/sintering characteristics of thermally sprayed zirconia coatings and attempt to understand the influence of microstructure on the creep resistance of deposits. The major modification, compared with more typical practice, was employment of powder feedstock with agglomerated sub-micron size particles (Nanox), which is compared to one of the best commercially available powders (HOSP). Thick plasma sprayed coatings were prepared and their physical and mechanical properties were characterized. Creep/sintering experiments were then conducted to investigate the response of the materials when exposed to high temperatures under load. The results showed that it could be possible to correlate the splat thickness to the creep behaviour of the coatings.
