Abstract
Thermal spraying, especially wire arc spraying, represents a strong growing and developing technology due to the possibility of current modulation. However, achieving consistently high coating quality in an automated production environment is strongly influenced by a large number of sensitive process parameters, including base current, pulse current, pulse duration, impulse frequency, alternating current frequency, and wire speed. To monitor and store the coating process data, a holistic process monitoring system was designed and tested numerous times. The scalable system is able to compare a wide variety of different process signals on one timeline. In addition to arc spraying, it can also be used for other arc processes. Custom software enables the comparison and analysis of selected process data sets in order to identify and correct irregularities in the process and the resulting coating. This article uses selected examples to demonstrate the opportunities and limitations of the system.
