Abstract
The main goal of the project was to investigate the influence of different gas properties, in combination with different spraying parameters, on the wire arc spraying process. For this purpose, investigations with several gas compositions (pure nitrogen as well as nitrogen combined with hydrogen or ethene – compared to compressed air) have been carried out for different spraying materials which are currently being used in today’s industries, such as copper, carbon (St0.8) and stainless steels (316L). The preheating of the process gas as well as the variation of the gas pressure up to 1,400 kPa (14 bar) were also subject to research. The resulting coating properties have been analyzed in terms of oxide content, porosity and hardness as well as deposition efficiency and adhesive tensile strength. Additionally, in order to enhance the process stability, a system to detect the cause of cold shuts has been developed.