Additive brazing is a highly advanced process for producing functional and highly durable coatings. By creating a material bond between components through diffusion without the use of flux, dense, wear-resistant, and crack-free layers are formed, which are particularly useful in areas such as wear protection and the reclamation of components. The ability to adjust the coating thickness and hardness makes the process extremely flexible, allowing it to meet the specific requirements of a wide range of applications. Particularly innovative is the ability to precisely and locally braze using laser energy, further enhancing the efficiency and precision of the process. This paper provides an overview of the process, properties of brazed coatings, and applications.

In the Cold Spray process, the sprayed particles are in solid state, and unlike thermal spray, the effect of the coating erosion by reflected particles can play a more significant role. This paper is an attempt of modeling the process of the Cold Spray coating formation taking into account the influence of the erosion process. The objective was to study the kinetics of the coating formation. Using an analytical approach, equations of the coating formation process are obtained. The approach is based on a comparison of the effect of particle adhesion to the coating combined with the effect of coating erosion. Adhesion and erosion are taken into account by introducing some probability values of these processes.

The results for joints obtained by dynamic diffusion bonding of a 90MnCrV8 high strength steel coated with WC-Co are shown in the present work. This high strength steel substrate was coated with WC-Co, sprayed by HVOF technique (Diamond Jet Hybrid DJH-2700) using propylene as fuel gas at different conditions. The dynamic diffusion bonding was carried out in a high frequency furnace, all joints were made in air. Before doing the joints, the steel was coated with Ni and Cu by electrochemical processes in order to obtain a soft 20 m interlayer of Ni30Cu alloy. Microstructure and reacted zones in the joints were investigated by means of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Dispersive X Ray Spectrometry (EDX). In all joints different reacted zones can be distinguished, caused by diffusion processes which take place during the joint tests. The mechanical properties of the joints were quantified in a tensile machine, using a constant load of 0.1 MPa·s -1 . All joints broke by the WC-Co coating zone by delamination processes. The fracture surface was studied by SEM-EDX in order to know the fracture mechanism of the joints. The maximum tensile strength obtained confirm a very promising technology for industrial applications.

The characterization of the adhesive and cohesive strength of thermally sprayed coatings is often evaluated according to given standardized testing procedures. These tests require the preparation of normally large coupons which have to be fixed together using an appropriate adhesive. Additionally they need time for preparation (e.g. annealing/curing of the adhesive) and require test equipments normally not available at job shops for coating development. One of the largest limitations of these tests is the applicability only for non-porous coatings, and in some cases the limited strength of the adhesive. Within a European CRAFT research project on “standards, measurements and testing”, a new shear test method was developed to characterize the mode and value of failure of thermally sprayed layers in a more reliable and less limited manner. This new shear test does not need any adhesive and yields more intrinsic information on coating quality than conventional tensile tests.

The adhesion strength of a ceramic coating deposited through direct spraying on a roughened substrate is a key issue in the manufacture of high-quality coatings on industrial components. The purpose of this work was to develop a rapid and discerning procedure for establishing adhesion level of a ceramic coating on a metallic substrate. The Laser Shock Adhesion Test, namely LASAT, was successfully applied to ceramic coatings with irradiation impact on the metallic side. Suitable parameters were found to determine the LASAT adhesion threshold using a standard Nd:YAG laser source. With a laser-irradiated area of several millimetres in diameter, it allowed assessment of the coating threshold on several areas of a coated plate sample. A control procedure for a qualitative assessment of coating adhesion was developed. This testing procedure could be easily used in industry, with possible location of the LASAT unit near to the spraying booth, for a direct production control on coated sample to improve the tracability of manufactured parts. Additional work was carried out to investigate a quantitative approach of the LASAT test to ceramic coating. The purpose was to simulate the shock wave propagation with the RADIOSS® code (a 3D software originally developed for car crash simulation). This code was implemented to calculate the velocity of the material and corresponding pressure throughout the substrate and the coating during the shock wave release (less than 2 ms). Experimental VISAR profiles ('Velocity Interferometer System for Any Reflector') were monitored in the straight direction of the laser-irradiated area on the rear side. These experimental signals (velocity measures) of the ceramic coating could be fitted and compared with a fairly good agreement with simulated profiles obtained by RADIOSS®. This modelling work was the first step towards a more comprehensive coating adhesion strength calculation in the future.

Disk-shaped splats that can be obtained on a heated substrate reveal a better contact with the substrate surface, resulting in a better adhesion/cohesion of coatings. Some research results illustrate that when the substrate temperature exceeds the transition temperature, the ideal splat can be obtained. In the simultaneous preheating-spraying-cooling process, named HEATCOOL in which a preheating gun heats the specimen just before the spraying and a cooling jet cools it just after the spraying, the preheating temperature is of short duration. In order to study the preheating effect and determine the optimal velocity of the movement of the system for obtaining an appropriate preheating temperature, the function specification method, an optimisation method, was adopted combined with FEM (the finite element method). An oxy-acetylene flame was used as preheating thermal resource, the optimal velocities were estimated. Particle impact tests of Cu and YSZ (ZrO 2 - 8%Y 2 O 3 ) powders sprayed by plasma with a flame heating system were carried out with different moving velocities. The splats morphology collected on stainless steel and aluminium plates were observed to clarify and confirm the calculated results.

The morphology of sprayed splat raises the coatings adhesion and the properties which are determined by the spraying parameters. A lot of studies in this field show that the substrate surface temperature is a very relevant factor for the splat shape: the hypotheses of substrate surface wetability and contamination or absorption layer on the surfaces are supported by the fact that the near disk-shaped splat can be obtained in increasing the substrate temperature. In the PROTAL process, a short duration pulse laser is used to ablate the substrate just before powder spraying. This ablation is powerful enough to eliminate the contaminations on the substrate surface and to improve the adhesion. In this study the analyses of NiAl splat morphology on polished TA6V substrate were carried out using PROTAL process with different substrate temperatures and different heating modes: the flame and another laser. Results show that the temperature at which the disk shaped splat can be obtained was decreased dramatically by PROTAL process and PROTAL process combined with another laser has increased the adhesion strength of the coatings.

New method for characterization of coating microstructures and for evaluation of coating property by means of surface morphology has been proposed. In this paper, the distribution of shape and dimensions of splat was examined using quantitative analysis of scanning electron microscope images from the surface of spray pattern as well as the surface of coating. Results obtained in this study indicate that it is necessary to analyze the spray pattern as well as the surface morphology in order to estimate the coating property by means of the distribution of splat which composes the coating. Moreover, the splats, which are in the interface between the substrate and the coating, should have the same morphology as those of the coating surface. Therefore, the analysis of the surface morphology is important even for the evaluation of coating adhesion behavior.

As underlined in 1981 by Mc Pherson, thermo-mechanical properties of plasma-sprayed coatings depend not only on the way particles flatten and resulting splats solidify and cool down, but also on the thermal history of particle layering at the same location. To illustrate what is our present knowledge in that field, plasma-sprayed alumina coatings will be considered through modelings and measurements. The first part of this paper discusses the phenomena linked with particle impact and splat formation: splashing, spreading, solidification and grain growth, angle of impact in conjunction with particle parameters at impact and substrate surface parameters (chemistry, phase structure and roughness, temperature). The second part examines splats layering. It addresses the influence of plasma jet heat flux, relative velocity torch-substrate, powder flow rate and deposition efficiency on splat time-temperature evolution and resulting quenching stress, coating adhesion/cohesion and microstructure. The shadow effect when spraying off normal angle is also discussed. The last part deals with the effect of the successive cooling and reheating of passes on coating properties, and condensation of the vapor issued from evaporating particles.

In this study, a new laser based technique was evaluated for the characterization of plasma-sprayed oxide coatings. It uses the contactless laser generation and detection of ultrasonic waves in the bi-layered systems. For this purpose, a nanosecond pulsed Nd:YAG laser (λ : 1064 nm, τ =14 ns) was used for irradiating the ceramic coating, whilst the longitudinal displacements of the rear surface of the metallic substrate were detected at the epicenter using a laser heterodyne interferometer. The acoustic signal recorded at the rear surface of the substrate was found to be characteristic of the different events taking place within the irradiated system. In this way, the longitudinal wave velocity, the porosity, as well as the Young's modulus of the coatings can be easily determined, whilst the coating/ substrate adhesion strength can be calculated, taking into account both the thermal, as well as the acoustic effects of the laser radiation. The proposed technique was applied to alumina coatings deposited onto stainless steel coupons by Atmospheric Plasma Spraying and the results were found to be in accordance with those obtained by the techniques commonly used for testing thermal spray coatings (interfacial indentation test, porosity measurement, etc.).

In the present study, hydroxyapatite coatings were deposited on Ti-6Al-4V alloy substrate by high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spray technique. The as sprayed HA powders and coatings were analyzed with the aim to reveal the melting state of HA powders and its influence on coating properties. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were employed for the characterization of the starting powders and as-sprayed coatings. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was performed to determine the recrystallization temperature of the amorphous phase in HVOF HA coating. Results show that different melting state of HA powders can be achieved through altering HA powder size and/or spray parameters. XRD result reveals that the as sprayed HA coating made from large powders with size of ~50 µm is composed of crystalline HA and very small amount of a-tricalcium phosphate (TCP). While the coatings deposited using fine powders around 30 μm demonstrated a lot of amorphous phase besides crystalline HA and small amount of a-TCP. The recrystallization temperature of the amorphous phase in HA coating is ~720°C. The adhesive strength of the HVOF sprayed HA coatings is ~31MPa and is largely dependent on the melting state of HA powders. This suggests that the fully melted state of the feedstock can result in the formation of amorphous phase, and simultaneously decrease the adhesive strength. It also suggests that the melted fraction of the powders is the most critical factor influencing the adhesive strength and phase composition of HVOF HA coatings. The partial melting state of HA powders is beneficial in terms of adhesive strength and crystallinity.

This paper describes the manufacture of a new ceramic coating system based on Al 2 O 3 /SiC nanocomposite powder prepared by sol-gel processing followed by low pressure plasma spraying (LPPS) onto stainless steel substrates. In order to produce nanocomposite coatings of good adhesion and low porosity, the substrates were water-cooled to minimise thermal stresses associated with coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch and a CoNiCrAlY bond coat was used. The sol-gel powder feedstock and the as-sprayed coatings have been characterised by a combination of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). The coating characteristics were compared with a reference Al 2 O 3 coating prepared from commercial feedstock powder. The thermal exposure of the sol-gel powder during spraying caused phase-changes and phase-decomposition. Examination of the sprayed coatings showed that it was possible to maintain the 20-200 nm SiC particles in the final Al 2 O 3 /SiC nanocomposite coating. The coatings also contained both stable α-Al 2 O 3 and metastable γ-Al 2 O 3 . Some minority phases such as silica and aluminosilicate formed in the sol-gel feedstock powder were fully decomposed during LPPS. This preliminary study indicates that sol-gel and LPPS processing is a potential route for the manufacture of nanocomposite coatings, which may offer significant improvements in some aspects of coating properties.

Microstructural study of plasma sprayed chromia coatings sealed with aluminum phosphate, was carried out for determining strengthening mechanisms of the sealant. Characterization was accomplished by X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, and analytical transmission electron microscopy. The main phase in the coating is the eskolaite type α-Cr 2 O 3 . The overall structure of the coating is lamellar with columnar grains parallel to the lamella thickness. Amorphous aluminum phosphate sealant has penetrated into the coating filling the structural defects such as cracks, gaps and pores between the lamellas. The average composition of the sealant in the coating is 25 at% aluminum and 75 at% phosphorus giving the molar ratio P/Al of 3, that corresponds to metaphosphates Al(PO 3 ) 3 . The aluminum phosphate sealing in the chromium oxide coatings is based on adhesive binding due to the attractive forces between the condensed phosphates and the coating. There were no indications about chemical binding due to reactions between the sealant and the coating in the sealing treatment for chromia coatings.

This paper describes a novel application of OF-boride layers on steel surfaces. The plasma-sprayed boron carbide powder on steel was diffusion annealed to form a suitable iron-hemiboride intermediate layer with a coefficient of thermal expansion between the coefficients for the steels used and ceramic coatings to create. In the next step, this system was completed with a second plasma-sprayed layer on aluminum oxide o zirconium oxide. The adhesion of these samples was checked after dynamic loading as a result of alternating thermal loads at 600, 800, 1000 or 1200 deg C. The resulting values were compared both with the adhesion values of the same ceramic coatings on steel without a boride intermediate layer and with the adhesion values of these ceramic coatings on steel that were borated according to the classic method in a boron carbide pack with activators. Paper includes a German-language abstract.

For obtaining higher particle velocities and consequently dense coatings, a closed nozzle system for atmospheric arc spraying was developed. The proposed system is characterized by a nozzle geometry which allows an expansion of the atomizing gas only in downstream direction. First coatings, obtained with this system exhibited promising results due to dense structure and high adhesion. Paper text in German.

This paper investigates the microstructure, bond adhesion, and high temperature and thermal fatigue performance of plasma-sprayed chromium carbide, nickel-chromium coatings after continuous exposure at high temperature inside a combustion chamber that simulates the extreme conditions existing in different industrial applications. Experiments on high temperature behavior under oxidative and neutral atmospheres and thermal fatigue tests are carried out in a test combustion chamber. Finally, the adhesion between the substrate and the coating layer is assessed using tensile tests. The paper discusses the results with special consideration of the microstructure development through the heat treatment. Paper includes a German-language abstract.