Abstract
Saint-Gobain Coating Solutions new ProPlasma HP gun, based on conventional plasma gun design (single anode-single cathode), has been evaluated for typical demanding applications of the thermal spray industry. A general overview of this gun main features is presented. Aim of its development was to fulfill the whole range of applications of plasma spraying, from high feed rate –high deposit efficiency (DE) to high velocity. First, plasma spraying performance of ProPlasma is exposed through 2 typical examples of materials extensively sprayed: yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and chromia, both needing high DE at high feed rates. A set of spraying parameters was developed for YSZ Saint-Gobain #204 hollow spherical powder showing 57% DE at 150g/min and exhibiting 13 to 15% porosity as typically requested for thick TBCs. Two sets of parameters were developed for chromia at 120g/min leading either to 3% porosity - 51% DE or 2% porosity - 42% DE. Then, the possibility to reach a high velocity mode is shown through the presentation of the anode development made for a typical high velocity application material: WC-Co. After a first design showed experimental promising results with low porosity, the anode design has been further improved based on experiment and CFD modeling.
