Abstract
Reactive Plasma Spraying (RPS) is one of several new plasma spray processes. Although several papers have been published on this technology, they are limited in scope to metal powders, such as Ti, Cr, and Si, and coatings composed of metal and non-oxide ceramics. When oxide powders are used among starting materials to fabricate metal or nonceramic coatings, it is important to understand and account for the reduction of oxides during spraying and the chemical reaction among the powder, plasma, and atmospheric gas. The work presented in this paper focuses on the reduction of plasma-sprayed TiO2 and how it is influenced by the amount and type of plasma and chamber gas used, the addition of carbon powder, and process parameters such as chamber pressure.
