Thick thermal spray coatings are used to repair worn parts during aircraft overhaul. The thermal spray coating is used to restore a part to its original dimensions. Characteristics of the as-applied coating that affect the performance of thermal sprayed parts are the residual stress in the coating, the tensile bond strength, the amount of porosity, oxides and impurities near the coating/substrate interface, and the hardness of the coating. An understanding of the relation of these coating characteristics to process variables such as the material used for the coating, spray process, spray angle, and thickness of the applied material is needed. In this paper, four thermal spray coatings, Ni5Al, Ni5Al-atomized, (NiCr)6Al, and Inco 718, on a substrate of Hastelloy X are investigated. These materials are applied using two different thermal spray application processes: plasma spray and High Velocity Oxy-Fuel (HVOF). Spray angles of 90° and 45° are used during spraying. The nominal thickness of the applied coatings ranges from 0.4 mm to 1.8 mm. The thermal spray coatings are evaluated in four types of tests. Residual stresses in the coatings and substrate are evaluated using the modified layer removal method. A tensile bond strength test is performed. Metallographic examination is used to determine the porosity and content of oxides and bond zone impurities (percent) of the applied materials. In addition, the hardness of the coating is measured. For the materials and conditions investigated, it is found that residual stress varies with each of the four process parameters. The bond strength for plasma sprayed coatings is related to the type of material and possibly to the coating thickness. The percent porosity varies with coating material, but, for Ni5Al, it does not depend on application process. Oxide content, as a percentage, varies with material and process, but not with spray angle and thickness. The percentage of impurities near the coating/substrate interface varies with process and, for the specimens that were coated using the HVOF process, with thickness. The hardness of the coating was found to vary with material and spray process. For three of the four coatings, hardness increases with thickness but, for Inco 718, hardness decreases as thickness increases.

Properties of thermally sprayed coatings, including residual stress, are controlled by various parameters of the spraying process. This study is focused on three thermal spraying techniques with significantly different particle temperatures and velocities. These are plasma spraying, twin wire arc spraying and high velocity oxy-fuel spraying. For each method, in-flight particle diagnostics was performed. Through-thickness residual stress profiles in Ni+5%A1 coatings on steel substrates were determined nondestructively by neutron diffraction. The stresses range from high tensile in the plasma sprayed coating to compressive in the HVOF one. Various stress generation mechanisms, including splat quenching, peening, and thermal mismatch, are discussed with respect to process parameters and material properties.

Experimental measurements have been carried out with the aim of investigating the residual stresses generated during plasma spray deposition of glass composite coatings. The research shows that the behaviour of these materials is fundamentally different from metals and ceramics. The quench stress in the glass composites can be eliminated by plasma-scanning. This is attributed to their low glass transition temperatures, which enable the stresses to be completely relaxed. The work also shows that the addition of alumina as a second phase allows the expansion mismatch between the coating and the steel substrate to be controlled. Control of the second-phase volume-fraction enables the residual stress in the composite coatings to be reduced to zero. Real-time measurements on deflection and temperature show that the dimensions of the substrate, plasma operating conditions and scanning rate have substantial effects on the temperature profiles within the deposits. Keywords: glass composite coatings, thermal stress, plasma spraying.

Thermally sprayed coating characteristics and mechanical properties are in part a result of the residual stress developed during the fabrication process. The total stress state in a coating/substrate is comprised of the quench stress and the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch stress. The quench stress is developed when molten particles impact the substrate and rapidly cool and solidify. The CTE mismatch stress results from a large difference in the thermal expansion coefficients of the coating and substrate material. It comes into effect when the substrate/coating combination cools from the equilibrated deposit temperature to room temperature. This paper describes a laser-based technique for measuring the curvature of a coated substrate and the analysis required to determine residual stress from curvature measurements. Quench stresses were determined by heating the specimen back to the deposit temperature thus removing the CTE mismatch stress. By subtracting the quench stress from the total residual stress at room temperature, the CTE mismatch stress was estimated. Residual stress measurements for thick (>1mm) spinel coatings with a Ni-Al bond coat on 304 stainless steel substrates were made. It was determined that a significant portion of the residual stress results from the quenching stress of the bond coat and that the spinel coating produces a larger CTE mismatch stress than quench stress.

An analytical thermal stress calculation and an in situ thermal stress measurement are developed at low temperatures (from room temperature to liquid helium temperature) on a cylindrical specimen made from an inner bulk niobium wall and a copper alloy VPS coating. This kind of structure is proposed for superconducting cavities in order to reduce the cavity frequency shift due to Lorentz forces. Since the superconducting cavity works at liquid helium temperature (below 4 K) and the niobium thermal expansion ratio is very different from the thermal expansion ratio of copper, thermal stress evaluations during the cool down are necessaries. The experimental approach consists in two series of measurements, the first series of measurements is performed at bulk niobium, bulk copper and thermal sprayed copper since the use of strain gage at liquid helium temperature is unknown from the manufacturer and the behaviour of the strain gage on the copper alloy coating is also unknown, the thermal compensation of strain gage from helium temperature to room temperature is imperative. Then the strain measurements are realized at inner surface (bulk niobium substrate) and outside (copper alloy VPS coating) of the cylindrical specimen. The analytical calculation takes into account non linear thermal expansivities of the materials, the calculated prediction of thermal stress is verified by measurement, a first observation on the copper alloy coating thermal expansion behaviour at low temperatures is established. Key words: thermal spray coating, thermal stress calculation and measurement, liquid helium temperature, superconducting radiofrequency cavities stiffening

Thermal spray coatings are subjected to mechanical loadings in many applications, and there is a need to evaluate the mechanical properties of these coatings. Mechanical properties of interest in the performance of thermal spray coatings include fatigue life, wear resistance, bond strength. Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, and residual stresses. One property that has a large effect on the performance of thermal spray coated parts is the residual stress distribution in the thermal spray coating and in the substrate. Thus, it is important to have (1) a fundamentally sound method for evaluating residual stresses and (2) a written recommended procedure for applying the method. ASM International is not a standard writing organization. Yet, the increased use of thermal spray coatings and the need for documentation on methods for evaluating mechanical properties of thermal spray coatings have generated a need to prepare Recommended Practices. To meet this need, the ASM International Thermal Spray Society has formed three subcommittees to prepare Recommended Practices for thermal spray coatings. This paper describes a draft form of a Recommended Practice for evaluating residual stresses in thermal spray coatings. This Recommended Practice is being developed by the Subcommittee on "Evaluating of Mechanical Properties of Thermal Spray Coatings". The method, called the Modified Layer Removal Method, has been presented in several papers and has been used for a variety of different coatings. The paper describes the dimensions of the test specimen, the equipment needed, the procedure for removing layers, and the methods for collecting and interpreting the data to evaluate through thickness residual stresses. The Recommended Practice (RP) is in Draft form, but is presented to let the thermal spray community know about the RP effort and invite comments and volunteers to write other RP's.

Substrates protected by thermal spray coatings are usually found intact after use, making them viable candidates for recycling and reuse. The key is to remove the coating without damaging the component. This requires a process that minimizes the development of residual stresses and the associated distortion. The purpose of this work is to determine the optimal descaling technique for Ni-base sheets with a thermal barrier coating. Test specimens were produced following industry procedures. Thin sheets (<3 mm) of Ni-base superalloy were plasma sprayed with a NiCrAlY bond coat and a Y203-stabilized ZrO2 topcoat. The coating layers were then removed using different methods, including pickling, shot blasting, and water jet descaling, and the substrates were assessed based on X-ray diffraction and chord width measurements. The findings of the study show that water jetting removes all surface materials, particularly the bond coat, without damaging the underlying surface. It also produces the least amount of stress and deformation and is relatively easy to automate.

Microscopic and macroscopic residual stress measurements and a finite element method (FEM) for stress analysis of thermal spray coatings have been carried out to investigate the residual stress generation mechanism. The residual stresses of one splat, laminated two splats and coatings were measured by a micro-beam x-ray stress measurement system and the macroscopic residual stresses were measured in-situ by the curvature change of the thin substrate plate during and after spraying. Two coating materials were employed in this study to deposit the coatings. One is molybdenum of which the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) is smaller than that of steel substrate and the other is 80%Ni-20%Cr alloy which has higher CTE than steel. The substrate was preheated up to 550°C just before spraying. The residual stresses of the splat and a coating are fundamentally the same level. The FEM analysis on the residual stress was also useful and by the comparison of two measurement results of microscopic and macroscopic residual stresses, the generation mechanism was discussed.

A non-destructive experimental approach was adapted to investigate the variations in residual stress fields within thermal spray coatings. WC-Co coatings produced by a HVOF technique were considered for concentrated rolling sliding contacts in this study. These coatings were produced in various thicknesses on various substrates. Residual stress measurements were made using an x-ray diffraction technique, along and across the rolling direction. A modified four-ball machine was used to conduct rolling contact fatigue tests under various tribological conditions of contact stress, lubrication and contact configuration. Residual stress measurements were made before and after the tribological tests. Failed rolling elements were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microscopy and surface interferometry. Results indicate that the magnitude of compressive residual stress attenuates during fatigue failure. The magnitude of attenuated residual stress was dependent upon the type of tribological failure. This attenuation of residual stress was attributed to the microcracking of coating under the influence of contact stress.