Suspension plasma sprayed (SPS) coatings can be produced with fine powder particles and tailor-made porosity. This allows to achieve low thermal conductivity which makes the coatings attractive as e.g. topcoats in thermal barrier coatings (TBCs). Used in gas turbine applications, the TBCs are exposed to high temperatures which leads to alterations of the microstructure. To obtain coatings with optimized properties, possible microstructure alterations like closing of pores and opening of cracks have to be taken into account. Hence, in this study, TBC topcoats consisting of 8 wt.% yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) were heat treated in air at 1150°C and thereafter investigated using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) cryoporometry. For all investigated samples, the porosity decreased as a result of the heat treatment. The finer pores and cracks disappeared and the larger pores grew slightly and achieved a more distinct shape as the material seemed to become more compact.

The study of both the interface strength and residual stresses within a plasma sprayed ceramic coating is of great interest which main purpose is a better understanding of the mechanical properties of metal/ceramic systems. In this work, experiments involving a LASAT facility (LASAT: Laser Shock adhesion test) were implemented in order to analyse the adhesion and the damaging behaviour (debonding and buckling) of alumina coatings onto Co-based alloy. Similar alumina coatings were deposited using same plasma parameters with various surface preparations: smooth or severe grit blasting, with and without pre-oxidation. The non-destructive analyses (Optical and IR imaging) of the buckled region after LASAT have allowed to compare and discuss the interface strength of the studied coated samples. Further discussion was carried out by analysing the blister, resulting from the release of residual stresses within the coating after LASAT. It was thus evidenced that the residual stress state is a key parameter on resulting adhesive properties. This explorating work suggests using the LASAT method to analyse the adhesion and residual stresses within thermal sprayings.

A Vickers indentation method has been applied to determine the interfacial fracture toughness of modern multilayer thermal barrier coatings. The delamination behavior of four types of coating systems will be discussed and compared with results based on modified four-point bending (4PB) tests. The investigated multi-layer coating system consists of a CoNiCrAlY-bond coat applied via low-pressure plasma spray (LPPS) on a nickel-based superalloy and an atmospheric-plasma sprayed (APS) top layer of type gadolinium zirconate (GZO) and yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ). A conventional YSZ mono-layer system is used for reference. The effects of GZO and YSZ microstructure were investigated using top coats with low and high porosities for both (multi- and single-layer) coating systems. Isothermal oxidation tests at 1100 °C up to 500 hours were performed to study the interaction between thermal aging and fracture behavior. Investigations of microstructure and sintering behavior show a significant influence of the annealing conditions on fracture toughness. It has been observed, that with increasing annealing time, the stiffness and thus the crack driving force of the GZO layer is increased due to sintering effects and healing of submicron defects. The lower stiffness and higher defect density of GZO seem to be the main reason for the reduced fracture toughness of the YSZ / GZO interface compared to the YSZ / CoNiCrAlY interface. As a result, the delamination of the top coat is observed to shift from the top coat / bond coat interface into the top coat double-layer.

Adhesion strength is one of the most important characteristics when discussing the reliability of a cold spray. A focused ion beam (FIB) was used to conduct ultra-micro tensile tests for micro-scale adhesive strength evaluations of high-pressure type cold-sprayed copper deposition on an aluminum substrate. It was also used to determine the essential factor of adhesion strength and the coating formation mechanism. The micro-scale local adhesion strength of cold-sprayed copper deposits on an aluminum substrate was successfully evaluated by FIB microtensile tests. The average local adhesion strength of this deposit was 223 MPa. The variations in adhesion strength between deposit and substrate were smaller than the interfacial strength of cold-sprayed deposits. This was caused by the repeated collision of these subsequent particles.

Superhydrophobic surfaces are of great importance in many industrial applications, especially where components are exposed to wet environments and low temperatures. Texturing of surfaces to reach superhydrophobicity can be achieved by thermal spraying technology, which is an attractive coating method as it is cheap, flexible and can employ a large range of feedstock materials. In this study, ceramic reinforced metal matrix composite (WC-CoCr) powders were sprayed using High Velocity Air Fuel method. They were varied based on their powder parameters such as carbide grain size, binder grain size and powder strength. The purpose was to investigate their hydrophobic characteristics and how these are influenced by different roughness profiles. The wetting properties such as contact angle and contact angle hysteresis were first investigated for the as-sprayed coatings. The roughness properties and Hausdorff Dimension were then related to the wetting properties. Aside from as-sprayed coatings, the effect of roughness and inherent wetting characteristics were studied by investigating the coating surface after grit blasting and polishing. Results show that powder parameters can lead to designing surfaces with higher surface roughnesses and thus having higher contact angles. It was also shown that surface composition of cermets has an impact on wettability, with the binder accounting for wetting characteristics and carbides accounting for roughness.

High temperature and fire-proof protection of metal structures issue involves formation of dense insulating coatings which possess low thermal diffusivity and capable to withstand high temperatures caused by open flame and other severe conditions. Such coating should be considered as sacrificial as it slowly decomposes during extreme high temperature impact. Such coatings intend significant extension of time required for heating and development of inelastic deformation in metal-based structures increasing service time in severe conditions. Several modifications of fire-proof coatings composed of organic binders were developed and investigated. Fireproof coatings were subjected to open flame test on an adapted burner rig. Open flame simulation with 1100°C was carried to estimate coating’s protection properties. Investigates coating showed reduction of temperature for 1000°C during 10 minutes. Such results achieved due to spumescent effect of coating’s coke layer.

Arc sprayed coatings from Fe-Cr-B-Y cored wires additionally alloyed by Al, Si, C were studied. SEM and XRD analyses, microhardness characterized their morphology, microstructure, and phase composition. The coatings were also evaluated by two-body abrasive wear test, and heat resistance test in air, 700°C, 100 h. Among compared coatings, the Cr12B5Al5Y one with maximum Al and minimum C content showed better indicators of porosity, adhesion strength, wear- and heat resistance comparing to other coatings alloyed with Si or less content of Al. It is resulted from the largest quantity of the carbon enriched eutectic containing reinforcing carboboride phases (Fe, Cr)2B, Fe2(C, B), and a rational ratio of the alloying elements. As shown, Cr12B5Al5Y coating wear resistance is more than twice as high comparing to the coating from typical wear resistant 150Cr8Ti2Al cored wire. The latter one consists of martensite phase, forming from the metastable austenite during loading, and chromium carbides. Weight loss tests showed that coatings from studied Fe-Cr-B-Y cored wires are of the same heat resistance level as the austenite steels and 1-2 orders of magnitude higher as compared to the pearlite and ferrite-martensitic steels, which are widely used as boiler's materials.

The main goal of the project was to investigate the influence of different gas properties, in combination with different spraying parameters, on the wire arc spraying process. For this purpose, investigations with several gas compositions (pure nitrogen as well as nitrogen combined with hydrogen or ethene – compared to compressed air) have been carried out for different spraying materials which are currently being used in today’s industries, such as copper, carbon (St0.8) and stainless steels (316L). The preheating of the process gas as well as the variation of the gas pressure up to 1,400 kPa (14 bar) were also subject to research. The resulting coating properties have been analyzed in terms of oxide content, porosity and hardness as well as deposition efficiency and adhesive tensile strength. Additionally, in order to enhance the process stability, a system to detect the cause of cold shuts has been developed.

Many ceramic materials are microstructurally stable at high temperatures, but exhibit poor mechanical properties under load. In this study, a Ni-base superalloy wire mesh is used as a reinforcement to strengthen a 6.15 mm thick layer of plasma-sprayed YSZ. The flexural performance of the ceramic matrix composite (CMC), as determined by a three-point bend test, exceeds that of monolithic YSZ in terms of peak load and displacement before fracture. Heat treatment of the CMC further increases the load at the onset of crack initiation due to enhanced bonding between the constituent materials.

Yttria stabilized zirconia coatings were deposited by plasma spraying and heat treated in air at 1100 °C for 50-200 h. Residual stresses in the ceramic topcoat and the thermally grown oxide (TGO) layer were measured before and after thermal exposure. After 50 h of exposure, tensile stress in the as-sprayed topcoat changed to compressive, which then increased with additional exposure time up to 150 h. The average compressive stresses in the cross-section of the TGO layer are shown to be higher than those on the surface of the oxide. In addition to shedding light on the nature and evolution of stresses in plasma-sprayed thermal barrier coating (TBC) systems, the results of the study also provide insights on crack initiation and propagation in the ceramic topcoat and at the topcoat-TGO-bond coat interface and its role in TBC failures.

This paper examines the microstructure and morphology of zirconia coatings and demonstrates the calculation of elastic modulus and Martens hardness based on instrumented indentation test results. Coatings samples varying in microstructure, phase content, and chemical composition were deposited by suspension plasma spraying using different torches and different suspension formulations. Coatings produced from low-concentration suspensions with submicron-size powders had a columnar structure with long vertical pores between the columns and fine spherical pores within the columns. Coatings made from suspensions with high concentrations of solids and coarser, more irregular powders, on the other hand, were more uniform and their surfaces smoother. They are also shown to be harder and have higher elastic modulus based on indentation test results.

This study assesses the influence of powder morphology on the microstructure and bond strength of cold-sprayed aluminum. Aluminum powders with spherical and irregular particle shapes were deposited on shot-peened steel. The feedstocks were mixed with alumina powders, either spherical or angular in shape, to improve coating properties. Coating samples and powder mixtures were examined by means of SEM and XRD analysis and pull-off tests were conducted to evaluate coating adhesion. It was found that alumina addition reduces porosity and increases hardness and that aluminum-alumina mixtures with the same particle shape are more suitable for producing dense coatings with high bond strength.

A non-destructive inspection technique known as photoluminescence piezospectroscopy (PLPS) has been used to measure residual stresses in thermally grown oxide layers in TBCs subjected to thermal cycling at 1121 °C. YSZ topcoats were applied by atmospheric plasma spraying on cold-sprayed bond-coated Ni superalloy substrates. Residual stresses were analyzed as a function of thermal exposure. Changes in stress were used to indicate spallation and damage degree in the coating system.

During heat treatment of Cr 3 C 2 -NiCr thermal spray coatings, regions of carbide dissolution have been observed to precipitate very small grains that grow into finely structured carbide networks. This study investigates the potential of developing tailored submicron carbide composites based on that process. The approach taken is to spray a conventional Cr 3 C 2 -NiCr powder under high-power plasma conditions to generate a supersaturated solid solution of Ni-Cr-C from which carbides could be precipitated via heat treatment. Preliminary trials assessed the effect of a broad range of plasma parameters to determine what conditions generate the greatest carbide dissolution with the lowest carbon loss. Follow-up trials investigated the most promising parameters in more detail to determine the effect of spray distance, with and without shrouding, on carbon loss and carbide dissolution. This paper presents the results from one of these trials in which an Ar-H 2 plasma was sprayed with a low-velocity nozzle. Gas shrouding had a minimal effect on carbide dissolution but was effective in reducing air entrainment in the plasma and the degree of decarburization.

This study evaluates a new surface finishing process called laser-assisted turning. WC-CoCr coatings were produced by HVOF spraying and characterized based on surface morphology, microstructure, and friction and wear properties. The coatings were then treated using the new process and re-examined and tested. Surface roughness and hardness were significantly improved, although friction and wear properties were found to be inferior to those of WC-CoCr coatings finished by grinding and polishing.

This study demonstrates the use of bulge testing to evaluate fuel plates for high-performance nuclear reactors. Uranium-molybdenum alloy substrates were plasma sprayed with zirconium and clad between aluminum sheets by hot isostatic pressing. The coated-and-clad samples were cut into disks, the top cladding was thinned, and a small hole was milled through the bottom cladding. The samples were then placed in a pressure cell and a syringe pump was used to inject distilled water through the hole in the bottom Al sheet. Two cameras measured bulge height while fluid pressure was simultaneously recorded. Test results show that all failures occurred at the plasma-sprayed Zr/U-Mo interface rather than the HIP-bonded Zr/Al interface. It is also shown that the use of transferred arc (TA) cleaning prior to spraying improves both failure pressure and initiation fracture toughness, especially under high ac current. TA cleaning facilitates the formation of strong diffusion bonds by removing oxide from the substrate and increasing interface temperature.

In this study, low-pressure cold spraying was used to deposit Al and Al-Al 2 O 3 composite powders on different substrate materials, including steel, aluminum, and magnesium alloy. Corrosion performance was evaluated by electrochemical testing in 1M NaCl electrolyte and microstructure was examined by means of SEM analysis. The results show that the corrosion potential of Al-Al 2 O 3 coatings depends on the content of alumina and that its presence does not appear to accelerate dissolution and failure of passivation oxide films. The investigation also revealed that pure aluminum coatings on aluminum alloy substrates can act as sacrificial anodes, thus providing corrosion protection.

This study investigates the mechanical response of plasma-sprayed ceramic coatings to different levels of mechanical and thermal loading. Test samples were subjected to four-point bending and thermal cycling loads. Nonlinear behavior and significant hysteresis were observed, indicative of inelastic phenomena. Previous tests were complemented by structural examinations and bonded-interface testing. Relevant structural features and possible mechanisms underlying this behavior are discussed.

This paper reviews some of the tools used to characterize the pore microstructure of thermally sprayed thermal barrier coatings. It describes the capabilities of optical and SEM analysis, intrusion porosimetry, high-flux X-ray and neutron imaging, small-angle scattering, and X-ray microtomography. It explains why it is often necessary to combine multiple techniques and provides examples showing where it has been done and what it can achieve. It also reviews commonly used porosity descriptors.

The aim of this study is to quantify the pore network architecture of thick zirconia coatings deposited by suspension plasma spraying of nano-sized particles. It is shown by FESEM fractography that the coatings exhibit a granular structure with a lamellar layer at the substrate interface and that the average void diameter is orders of magnitude smaller than the resolution of conventional SEM systems.