Many industrial applications require efficient stripping methods for thermal spray coatings, especially when cost-intensive substrate materials are utilized. A typical example is turbine components such as rotor blades with thermal barrier coatings (plasma-sprayed YSZ) in combination with nickel-based bond coatings. Unfortunately, the conventional stripping methods are dirty (contamination with grid blasting material), environmentally harmful (aggressive fluids, strong acid), or relatively ineffective (high tool load in mechanical milling). In order to avoid these disadvantages, alternative techniques such as removal by laser or by water jet stripping and hybrid methods, such as ultrasonic-based mechanical methods and a combination of water, laser, and cryo-techniques have been investigated. In this paper, newly developed stripping methods are compared to classic techniques. The evaluation considers user-friendliness, technological performance such as substrate-interaction, material emission, and economic considerations.

Coating thickness is considered to be one of the most important characteristics of thermally sprayed coatings. Therefore, it has long been the goal to be able to control it. This could be achieved by implementing an online, closed-loop control. A prerequisite for such a control mechanism is a feedback signal of the coating thickness with sufficiently small measurement uncertainty. Optical distance measurement techniques have been demonstrated in the past to produce promising results for such applications. This paper analyses the measurement uncertainty of an optical distance measurement technique based on confocal distance sensors used for in situ coating thickness evaluation. As an alternative, pneumatically actuated length gauges are also used for the in situ measurement. Both techniques are applied during atmospheric plasma spraying of samples in a carousel setup. The two sensing techniques are compared with a reference, destructive coating thickness measurement method. Pros and cons of using different in situ coating thickness measurement techniques for process control applications are discussed.

In the field of additive manufacturing, the demand for Extreme High-Speed Laser Material Deposition (EHLA) is increasing due to its unique process characteristics, economic efficiency as well as its great resource efficiency. The process is currently mostly used for surface functionalization through coating, by means of corrosion and wear protection. Thereby, almost all materials can be processed and nearly all material combinations can be created. The layers produced are dense and metallurgical bonded, and furthermore the surface roughness produced is low, so that only 20-100 μm has to be removed to produce a finished surface. However, it can also be used for the generation of 3D geometries. The greatest cost factor in the production is the coating material. With increasing requirements, for example in wear protection, cost-intensive special alloys or materials must be used. An opportunity to increase the areas of application in the field of wear resistance as well as increasing material efficiency is offered by combining EHLA with the innovative post-processing methods of hammering, solid as well as smooth rolling. Using these processes, the surface roughness can be reduced to a value of Rz 1-3 μm on the one hand and the surface hardness can be increased on the other hand. The hammering and solid rolling processes differ in their depth of impact. In the case of hammering, the impact depth can be a few millimeters and in the case of solid rolling only a few tenths of a millimeter. So far, the influence of hammering or solid rolling of additive manufactured volumes or surfaces has not been investigated. In the context of this study, the influence of hammering and solid rolling on a volume produced with EHLA is investigated. For this purpose, an EHLA produced volume of IN718 is built up and the influence of hammering as well as solid rolling on the surface roughness and hardness is analyzed.

In recent years, laser-based post-processing of thermally sprayed coatings has gained significant attention as an alternative post-processing route; to mitigate the microstructural defects such as pores, microcracks, and splat boundaries associated with thermally sprayed coatings. Optimisation of the parameters for the laser post-processing is of paramount importance to maintain the required properties of these coatings. The current thermo-mechanical model simulates the impact of laser heat treatment on thermally sprayed Tungsten Carbide Cobalt (WC-17Co) coating and AISI 316L as substrate. A sequentially coupled transient thermal and structural analysis is performed. Transient temperature field from thermal analysis due to laser source will become input loads for the subsequent stress-strain analysis with appropriate boundary conditions. Both the coating and substrate are given temperature-dependent material properties. A gaussian heat flux distribution is used to model the laser source. The finite element analysis results underline the importance of temperature gradients and the presence of thermally induced stress-strain fields responsible for promoting coating degradation. The obtained results also revealed that heat input and dimensional characteristics play a vital role in the annealing treatment's efficacy. Three separate test cases were considered wherein the hatch spacing was varied, keeping the other parameters (scan speed, laser power, and laser spot diameter) constant. The impact of hatch spacing on the temperature and residual stress distribution across the coating was assessed by this simulation. Residual compressive stress was observed in the coating for two out of the three test cases, which further improved the durability of the coating.