Silicon coatings have been developed for environmental barrier coatings by thermal spraying. Until now, these coatings have been produced almost exclusively by Atmospheric Plasma Spraying (APS). High Velocity Oxy-Fuel (HVOF) spraying is commonly used to produce dense metallic and carbide-based coatings due to high particle velocities. However, there have been no scientific reports on HVOF-sprayed silicon coatings in the literature. This study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of fabricating silicon coatings by HVOF using a DJ2600 spray system. Both the spray powders and the parameters were varied. The coatings were investigated on their surfaces and cross-sections using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). The hardness and indentation modulus of the silicon coatings were also determined. The results show that the particle size distribution and the stand-off distance are important influencing factors. Dense coatings could be produced by HVOF spraying, confirming the feasibility.

Three-cathode plasma spraying is characterized by high process robustness in terms of particle in-flight properties due to high stability of plasma jet. However, during coating parts with complex geometries, process parameters such as stand-off distance and spray angle usually cannot be kept at optimized conditions. In this study, the process robustness during three-cathode plasma spraying of a novel FeCrMnBC alloy was investigated by varying stand-off distance and spray angle to simulate spray conditions for complex geometries. A three-cathode plasma generator TriplexProTM-210 was used to spray FeCrMnBC powder with a fraction of -45 +20 µm onto substrates of cast iron EN-GJL-250. The stand-off distance and the spray angle were varied from d=90 mm to d=110 mm and between ø=90° and ø=60°, respectively, while the other process parameters were kept constant. The results revealed that the reduction of spray angle caused an about 15 % decrease of coating thickness, about 40 % porosity increase and about 15% increase of bond strength. In contrast, the variation of stand-off distance changed only insignificantly the coating thickness, porosity and bond strength. The variation of stand-off distance and spray angle did not result in significant changes in the coating microhardness. The reduction of spray angle resulted in significant worsening of the corrosion protection ability of the coating system.

Fe-based coatings, such as novel FeCrMnBC alloys, have both economic and ecological advantages compared to other coatings like Ni-based or Co-based coatings. In recent years, high performance Fe-based wear and corrosion resistant coating systems have been developed. Some of them have even been introduced into the market. However, the suitability of the FeCrMnBC alloy as coating for cast iron under complex erosive and corrosive stresses in particle-loaded fluids for pump parts has not been investigated yet. Especially the impact of the process robustness of three-cathode plasma spraying coatings applied with variable process parameters like stand-off distance and spray angle is in the focus of interest. The objective of the present work has been the characterization of novel FeCrMnBC alloys, for the first time deposited via Thermal Spray processes. The corrosion resistances as well as the cavitation and erosion properties were separately evaluated by current density-potential measurements and supersonic cavitation in artificial sea water. Erosion corrosion behavior has been investigated in a pump test rig with 10 wt.-% corundum (Al 2 O 3 ) particles. The results show that the reduction of spray angle and the variation of stand-off distance limit the corrosion and cavitation resistance in different ways. The erosion behavior shows only small variations for the tested parameters. The results reveal that the FeCrMnBC coatings exhibit high process robustness for the chosen parameter variations and a large potential to improve the protection of cast iron even for not optimized conditions.

In this study, a ZrO 2 – 7 % Y 2 O 3 (YSZ) powder (-90 +16 µm) was nanostructured by high energy ball milling and sprayed using a modern three-cathode plasma generator TriplexPro- 210 as well as a conventional plasma generator F4MB-XL. The parameters were varied in order to investigate their influence on build-up, microstructure and properties of the thermal barrier coatings (TBC). Powders and coatings were characterized in terms of their morphology, microstructure and phase composition by means of light microscopy (LM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray analysis (XRD). Thermo-shock behavior of TBC was evaluated using thermal cyclic tests at 1300 °C and 1150 °C. The results show that the milled powder contained nano-sized particles. TBC from the nanostructured powder by TriplexPro-210 had high porosities and numerous fine pores, leading to lower microhardness and higher thermos-shock resistance than the reference TBC.

Iron-based wire feedstocks represent a technical as well as economical alternative to carbide reinforced feedstocks for wear protection applications. To assess the potential of such feedstocks, iron-based cored wires were developed with up to 6 wt% boron. The feedstocks were deposited by electric arc spraying, forming hard, partially amorphous coatings with embedded nanocrystalline boride precipitations. To further improve wear resistance, chromium carbide was blended into the powder filling in some wires. Coatings produced from all feedstocks were evaluated by means of optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and microhardness measurements.

Carbon fibre reinforced carbon (CFC) composites have been more and more used in different industrial areas as high temperature materials. Some application examples are CFC components in modern furnaces for heat-treatment and brazing. Because CFC components can react with metallic materials when they contact each other, diffusion barrier coatings are essentially important for such CFC components. The aim of the project IGF 14.880 N “Thermally sprayed diffusion barrier coatings for CFC components in high temperature applications” is to develop diffusion barrier coatings by thermal spraying technology. In the project, different coating systems have been developed and investigated regarding the coating build-up, coating microstructure, bonding, thermal shock resistance and diffusion barrier function. The research results reveal that some developed coating systems are suitable for applications in furnaces. In the present paper, some research results of this project are reported.

The cold spray process is interesting for brazing technology due to its special properties: low oxidation of spray materials and rupture of oxide scales on the substrate and particles surfaces during deposition. In the present study, two brazing alloys AlSi 12 and AlSi 10 Cu 4 were deposited onto 6063 and 3003 aluminium alloys using the cold spray process. The influence of the spray parameters on the particle velocity was investigated by means of DPV 2000. The influence of spray materials and parameters on coating build up and on coating microstructure was investigated. Some of the AlSi 12 coated samples were heat-treated at 500 and 600 °C to investigate the effect of the rupture of oxide scales on the diffusion processes. Some of the AlSi 12 deposited samples were brazed under argon atmosphere using a flux or without any fluxes. The results show that the process gas temperature influenced the particle velocity and the deposition behaviour of the powders significantly. The AlSi 12 powder showed a much better deposition behaviour than the AlSi 10 Cu 4 powder. Due to the rupture of oxide scales, silicon in the brazing alloy coating could diffuse into the substrate. The brazed samples show a very good bond between the substrate and the brazing alloy.

Especially, composites of aluminium metal foams are of high potential for lightweight applications in automotive, aerospace and general engineering because of their excellent ratio of low weight and high stiffness. To fulfill the industrial need for these new materials as soon as possible, a new integrated manufacturing process concept has been developed and studied at our institute. The new “easyFoam-process” concept consists of four basic steps: production of semi-finished parts via the powder metallurgical route, forming of the foamable semi-finished part into a near net shape by extrusion or any standard aluminium-forming process, coating of the surface by thermal spraying and foaming by inductive heating. Thus it’s feasible to provide a fast, continuous and efficient production of metal foam composites with highly reproducible properties, resulting in eminent advantages over current techniques for foam sandwich production in terms of degree of anisotropy, statistical spread in foam properties and production economy. This process is also the only one being able to produce a graded pore structure in symmetrical parts of PM-aluminium foams. The thermally sprayed coatings serve simultaneously as mould and as future multifunctional coating. In this paper, some results of our first study in coating the foamable Al-tubes and inductive heating the coated parts are presented.

Microplasma spraying has the potential to expand the range of applications for plasma spraying, particularly for the production of functional coatings. The low heat input on the substrate material allows small and thin-walled components to be coated without risk of overheating or deformation and with less powder loss due to the small plasma jet. This paper investigates the influence of various process parameters on the spraying of molybdenum, stainless steel, WC-Co, zirconium dioxide, and aluminum oxide using a microplasma system. Material consumption, plasma jet size, and layer structure are measured along with various aspects of particle behavior in the plasma jet. Paper includes a German-language abstract.

Nitrogen-alloyed steels have outstanding properties, but are rarely used in thermal spraying. In this study, high-nitrogen duplex and austenitic steels are sprayed using APS and HVOF techniques and the resulting layers are evaluated based on microstructure, composition, and corrosion and wear properties. HVOF layers outperformed the APS layers in corrosion and wear testing, with austenitic steel having the highest corrosion resistance, and duplex steel the highest wear resistance. Paper includes a German-language abstract.

The paper deals with an analysis of particle behavior in a HVOF-jet as a function of process parameters. The experiments were carried out using a commercial HVOF gun with hydrogen as fuel gas. A commercial 316 L stainless steel powder was used for spray material. The experiments were conducted by using on-line particle diagnostics in order to simultaneously detect particle velocity, temperature and diameter. The results were correlated with caught spray powder and splats. The experiments released that among many parameters the oxygen/fuel gas ratio is the most important parameter. It was found, that fragmentation of partially melted particles in a supersonic jet is not a neglectable phenomenon. It may cause excessive oxidation inflight and therefore is to be avoided in the production of oxygen-poor coatings. Furthermore, it was found that velocity or temperature measurements of particles have to be interpreted very carefully in order to characterize the process. Without taking a possible change of the particle size due to inflight fragmentation into consideration either measurement value will lead to very limited information benefit.

The processing of metallic alloys with the atmospheric HVOF process requires a uniform setting of the particle parameters, particle temperature and velocity, as these determine the tendency towards oxidation and the flattening behavior of the particles. Using the example of a NiCr alloy, this paper examines the effects of different particle diameters of a typical HVOF grain fraction on the achievable uniformity of processing. In addition, particle parameters are correlated with the process variables fuel gas composition and spray distance as well as the resulting application efficiency in order to determine whether they can be influenced. The particle properties of surface temperature and speed are characterized with the aid of a high-speed particle pyrometer. It is shown how, with the help of this particle diagnosis, an on-line process control can be used as proof of quality assurance. Paper includes a German-language abstract.

In this investigation reactive plasma spraying was used to produce wear resistant coatings of Ti-carbides/titanium or Ti-nitrides/titanium composites. Ti-powders with different powder size distributions were used as raw materials. Methane and nitrogen were used as reactive gases to form carbides and nitrides. A reactor was adapted to the plasma gun F4 of a Sulzer Metco vacuum plasma spraying equipment to increase the degree of the expected reactions. Phase analysis and micrography of the coatings reveal that the Ti-hardphases were synthesized during spraying and embedded in the titanium matrix. The in situ synthesized hardphases show different forms and sizes. Most of them are non-stoichiometry. Compared to the titanium coating the coatings produced by reactive plasma spraying are much harder and more resistant against both sliding and abrasive wear.