This paper provides a summary of the status and potential of thermal spray activities in India. A meaningful indicator of the future growth of thermal spray technology in India is the rapid rise in the number of job shops that offer thermal spray coating services. The number of captive units meeting in-house coating needs has also increased markedly in recent years. These trends have in part been fueled by an increase in the number of home-grown Indian companies manufacturing spray systems, handling equipment, and performance evaluation test rigs. Research in areas such as cold gas dynamic spraying (CGDS) and solution precursor plasma spraying (SPPS) is also on the rise in India.

This paper deals with a comprehensive evaluation of the laser glazing or re-melting route as a possible means of specifically enhancing the performance of thermal sprayed WC-Co coatings. In the present study, a high-power continuous-wave 9kW CO 2 laser was utilized for laser treatment of plasma sprayed as well as detonation sprayed WC-Co coatings. The influence of the two most important laser-related variables, namely laser power and scan speed, on the properties of the laser-treated layers was investigated. Both mere surface densification by melting a thin top layer of the coating as well as melting of the entire portion of the coated layer were targeted during laser treatment. In each case, the laser treated coatings were fully characterized by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and microhardness measurements. In addition, the influence of laser processing on the elemental distribution, phase constitution and extent of defects in the treated layers was investigated. The tribological performance of the laser-glazed coatings was also evaluated and compared against the performance of their as-sprayed counterparts. The study has revealed significant differences between the response of plasma and detonation sprayed WC-Co layers when subjected to laser treatment. The potential of plasma-sprayed coatings to match the performance of the inherently superior detonation sprayed coatings by adopting laser glazing as a post-processing step has also been assessed.

It is well accepted that the morphology and microstructure of the splats have a strong influence on the characteristics and properties of thermally sprayed coatings. McPherson has made pioneering and outstanding contributions in the above area, especially for plasma sprayed coatings. Recently, splat morphology - microstructure - properties correlation has also been attempted in the case of HVOF thermal spray coatings. However, only limited data is available in the case of detonation sprayed coatings inspite of the fact that DS coatings have been available commercially for a long time. In the present work, the influence of particle velocity and temperature on the splat morphology and also area coverage of the splat has been studied for detonation sprayed Al 2 O 3 particles on a mild steel substrate. Further, the effect of two detonation spray process variables namely, oxy fuel ratio and shot frequency on splat morphology and splat area coverage has been evaluated. The above correlation has then been utilized to understand the variation of deposition efficiency of detonation sprayed Al 2 O 3 coatings on mild steel as a function of spray process parameters.

In recent years, the thermal spray technique has emerged as the most useful method for developing a wide variety of coatings which enhance the performance and durability of engineering components exposed to diverse forms of wear. Among the thermal spray techniques, detonation spray coating (DSC) has retained its position as one of the best available techniques for obtaining dense, wear-resistant coatings. Notwithstanding the advantages of the DSC technology over other thermal spray variants, the understanding of the fundamental aspects of this technology is still extremely limited. In view of the above, a major programme has been undertaken in this laboratory to assess the parametric impact of the key DSC process variables (oxy-fuel ratio, spray distance, powder feed rate and shot frequency) on the mechanism of coating formation and the properties of the resulting coating. As a part of the above exercise, the key DSC process variables have been varied systematically employing a statistical design and the properties of the WC-12Co coatings so obtained have been evaluated. The results of such a study are presented in this paper. In particular, it has been demonstrated that useful conclusions regarding the influence of process parameters on the properties of the WC-12Co coating cannot be reached unless the scatter in the experimentally measured coating property data is also simultaneously taken into account.

Thermal sprayed chromium carbide (Cr3C2)-25% NiCr (Ni-20%Cr) coatings are extensively used in wear resistant applications especially under conditions wherein operating temperatures are likely to be higher than 500°C . The performance of the Cr3C2-NiCr coatings under such conditions depend on a variety of coating properties like the porosity, microstructure, extent of decarburization of Cr3C2 phase and hardness. One of the parameters which affects the above mentioned coating properties is the characteristics of the powder utilized for thermal spraying. In the present study, Cr3C2-25% NiCr powders obtained from four different sources has been utilized to form Cr3C2-NiCr coatings on steel substrates utilizing the detonation spray coating (DSC) system. The Cr3C2-NiCr powders utilized vary from each other in terms of manufacturing route employed (sintered and crushed, pre-alloyed, blended, etc.), particle size distribution, particle shape and even phases present. The influence of each of these powder characteristics on the coating microstructure, porosity, hardness, extent of carbide dissolution and ultimately on coating performance (i.e. sliding and abrasive wear resistance) has been evaluated.

The detonation gun (D-Gun) coating technology which results in coatings with outstanding properties has found extensive applications especially in the aerospace and engineering industry. Though the D-Gun process has been in use for the last 30 years or so, the basic mechanisms which lead to such an outstanding combinations of properties is not yet fully understood. This has been primarily due to the fact that the coating property ultimately depends on the combination of powder particle temperature and velocity at the time of its impact on the substrate to be coated and so far measurement of these parameters has not been possible. As a result, indirect correlations between D-Gun variables like fuel gas to oxygen ratio, powder feed rate, firing frequency and working distance and coating properties have been developed but without the knowledge base of how these D-Gun variables affect the powder particle temperature and velocity. An in-flight particle diagnostic sensing system has been recently installed in our laboratory and this system allows for the simultaneous measurement of particle velocity and temperature. In view of the above, a major programme has been launched to study the effect of particle velocity and temperature on the coating properties (like coating hardness, porosity, bond strength, XRD etc.) for a wide range of coatings. The preliminary results from the above investigation, pertaining to Cr3C2-25NiCr coatings obtained using D-Gun, will be presented and discussed in this paper.