Abstract
Experimental designs have been used by the thermal spray community to improve and optimize spray parameters to produce coatings with desired properties. The influence of four spray parameters including top and bond coat thicknesses, substrate temperature, and spray distance on the mechanical properties of plasma sprayed thermal barrier coatings has been examined. Two experimental matrices; (i) a four by nine according to a Taguchi experimental design, and (ii) a four by seventeen according to a full factorial design of the experiment, were developed. Six samples from each group were tested using a four point bend arrangement. Yield strength and elastic modulus were calculated from the four point bend test. A multi-linear regression analysis on yield strength and elastic modulus values from each experimental matrix was carried out to determine the influence of each spray parameter on these properties. The multi-linear regression analysis results for these two experimental matrixes are compared.
