The composition of the cored wires is inhomogeneous and contains solid velum as well as a powder filling which strongly influences the particle formation, in-flight particle behavior, the coating microstructure, and consequently the behavior of the desired coating. To study the effect of particle size distribution of the filling powder in cored wires the parameters of the twin wire arc spraying process such as current, voltage, and atomization air pressure are changed for different intervals of particle size distributions (-45µm+25µm, and -95µm+63µm). Fluctuations in arc voltage and current are measured and found to be higher at smaller particle sizes. The characteristics of inflight particles showed a higher particle velocity in case of smaller particle sizes. The particle temperature is higher in case of bigger particle sizes. The splats tend to form a pancake shape in case of smaller particle sizes. Therefore, the lamellas are more homogenous and the porosity is low. This investigation is important for deep understanding of twin wire arc spraying with cored wires.

This work involves modeling of cold spray process in order to predict gas flow as well as particle conditions upon impacting on a substrate. Particle normal velocity is found to be the most important factor to improve the deposition efficiency and coating quality. Particle velocity is influenced by the substrate geometry and location. The shape and strength of the bow shock near the substrate of different geometries (such as concave, convex, and flat) are studied, and particle normal velocities impacting on the substrates located at various stand-off distances are calculated. Furthermore, the numerical simulation is repeated with particles of various sizes and different feeding gas (Helium and Nitrogen). The results are compared to obtain the optimum substrate location and the appropriate particle size for each feeding gas.

Magnesium alloy AZ91D-SiC composite coatings were fabricated by cold spraying to study the effects of SiC particle size and volume fraction on microstructure and mechanical properties. The results show that coatings with large SiC particles have higher microhardness and bonding strength. Mechanically blended powders with fine SiC particles, on the other hand, are difficult to deposit. SiC volume fractions in the starting powders were 15, 30, 45, and 60 vol%, resulting in coatings with SiC volume fractions of 19, 27, 37, and 51 vol%. Based on test results, coating hardness and bonding strength increase with increasing volume fraction of SiC particles.

Thick deposits were produced from pure Al powder of three different sieve sizes using cold spraying at the same process parameters. The in-plane mechanical and fracture properties of the deposits were investigated using bending of small specimens in four specimen orientations. It was shown that increasing the Al particle size by approximately 50% and 100% leads to small, but statistically significant differences of yield strength. Further, the increase in the powder particle size led to higher fracture toughness K IC but lower fatigue crack growth threshold ΔK thr . This can be attributed to two different fracture mechanisms in the cold sprayed deposits. A trans-particular fracture in the near-threshold fatigue regime is controlled by the microstructure and work hardening of the particles. At higher cyclic loads and in quasi-static regime, the particle decohesion and the resulting crack path determine the fracture behavior instead. However, the observed effect of particle size was rather small, much smaller than the effect of spray process parameters observed in the previous research.

This paper presents novel results of a series of experiments intended to study the role of the size of the feedstock powder on the microstructure of the deposits. For this purpose, Metco and the feedstock powder, yttria-stabilized (8% wt) zirconia, with number-weighted mean particle sizes of 32, 47, 56, and, 88 micrometer, are used. Small-angle neutron scattering and multiple small-angle neutron scattering (MSANS) methods are applied to determine the microstructure of the four deposits. Companion indentation measurements are performed to determine the elastic moduli of the deposits. The paper also discusses the MSANS 3-void model in relation to the anisotropic elastic properties. Paper includes a German-language abstract.

In the thermal spraying process the quality of the produced coating is determined by the state of the particles before they impact on the substrate[l]. For the spray particle diagnostics a new method is offered by the development of the Particle-Shape-Imaging (PSI) technique. This method is intended for the analysis of size and shape of individual particles within the plasma jet. The method is based on telemicroscopic imaging of the particle shades. Similar to the Laser-Doppler-Anemometry a cw laser beam is split into two beams of equal intensity, which are superimposed in the focal plane of a Long-Distance-Microscope. The detection system consists of a CCD camera with a Micro-Channel-Plate intensifier allowing exposure times of few nanoseconds. When a particle passes the measuring volume exactly in the focal plane, the two laser beams generate individual shades, which congruently superimpose on the CCD Chip in the image plane of the telemicroscope. If a particle passes the measuring volume not exactly in the focal plane, the two generated shades are separated in the image plane. By this effect the position of the particle relatively to the focal plane can be measured. From the area and the contours of the shades, particles can be classified regarding size and form. Corresponding distributions of the particles within the plasma jet as well as changes of the particle form in the melting process can be determined.

Three different types of polyethylene powders were flame sprayed onto pre-heated steel substrate previously coated by electrostatic spray system with a thin epoxy primer layer. Properties of the polyethylene (PE) powders, including powder density, particle size and melt flow rate (MFR) were measured in order to study their influence on the mechanical properties of the coating. The spray experiments started with optimization of spraying parameters. The main variables were pre-heating temperature of the substrate, temperature increase during spraying (influenced by the spraying distance), and thickness of the PE coatings. The laboratory tests performed for the coatings were coating characterization by microscopy and mechanical testing. Porosity and thickness of the coatings were determined by optical and stereo microscopy studies from polished cross-sectional samples. Hardness, impact strength, peel strength, and adhesive strength of the coatings were also investigated. Also some hot water sinking and heat cycling tests were performed. As a result from the present studies it can be concluded that powder properties have great influence on the mechanical properties of the final coating.

The effect of particle size range on oxidation behavior was investigated according to exposure time in isothermal oxidation condition. Emphasis was placed upon oxygen content, porosity, and oxide scale formation. Commercially available CoNi- and CoCrAlY powders of several different particle size ranges were vacuum-plasma sprayed on a nickel alloy substrate. The results show that the isothermal degradation of coatings is considerably influenced by the particle size distribution. It can be clearly observed that a remarkable increase in the oxygen content in the as-sprayed coating occurred with a decrease in the mean particle size. But after thermal exposure, the difference of the oxygen contents between the smaller and larger particle coatings is decreased. The distribution of particle size plays the important role of porosity than only the mean particle size. The powder which has the widest range and sample variance leads to make good porosity inside coatings during the deposition process.

In the present study, Al 2 O 3 coatings were deposited by plasma spraying using feedstock of different particle sizes. The effects of particle size on their velocity and temperature in the plasma jet, the microstructure and properties of the coatings were investigated. The results revealed that in view of the smaller inertia effects and lower heat capacity, the smaller particles can be easily accelerated and heated, and have higher in-flight velocity and temperature, which contributed to produce a denser coating with lower porosity and higher mechanical properties. It was also found that the coating deposited using the finest starting powder has the lowest thermal diffusivity. This may be reasonably correlated with the microstructural characteristics. In addition, the coating manufactured using the intermediate feedstock in terms of particle size (D50 of 19.3µm) exhibited the highest wear resistance.

Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) functioning in the aviation and power generation industries have heavily relied on plasma sprayed yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) on MCrAlY bond coated engine components. Among those factors which may impact the repeatability and reliability of a TBC coating, powder feedstock is one of the most important while being the challenging to control constituents as it is difficult to keep the powder chemistry, morphology and size distribution exact the same from lot to lot, year after year. In this study the authors systematically vary the size distribution of one type of commercial YSZ powder to explore the effect of the size distribution on the TBC deposition and the coating performance. Deposition rate and efficiency are quantitatively compared for those experimental powders. The coating microstructures and performances for different sizing are also evaluated analytically. Understanding the impact of the powder variation on the coating deposition and performance is essential to determine the quality control standards.

Magnesium coatings were deposited upon aluminum and stainless steel substrates by cold spraying. Three Mg powders with different particle size distributions were used as feedstock. The microstructures of as-sprayed coatings were evaluated by optical microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The coating observations show that a main gas temperature has an important effect on the deposition behaviour of particles. Changing the gas temperature from 350°C to 630°C involves an increase of the deposition efficiency from 1.57% to 19.57%. The effects of the particle size distribution and substrate material on the deposition efficiency of particles were also investigated. The results show that the particle size distribution has a significant effect on the deposition efficiency of particles which increases from 19.57% to 59% when the mean particle size decreases from 63 µm to 38 µm under gas temperature of 630°C. However, the deposition efficiency of particles was slightly influenced by the substrate material. In addition to these experimental results, the in-flight particle velocities were simulated by FLUENT software to point out the effects of the gas temperature and particle size distribution.

The thermal spray industry identified the need for repeatable and reproducible feedstock powder characterization methods, especially particle size distribution (PSD), for cost effective manufacturing of thermal barrier coatings. The PSD measurement by a laser light scattering method was identified as the technique most widely used in the industry. This technique offers high resolution, rapid measurements and ease of use. A round robin study by nine laboratories using different models of a commercial light scattering instrument has been completed as the first step towards the development of a Standard Reference Material (SRM) for the calibration of light scattering instrument. Other measurement techniques were also employed for additional comparison. The PSD measurements employing light scattering techniques evidenced some method dependence, despite the use of identical sample preparation procedures. The round robin results will serve as reference values for the development of the SRM.

A brief study was performed to examine the influence of starting powder composition, starting powder particle size and spraying environment on the chemistry, phase assemblage and porosity of Al-Cu-Fe plasma sprayed coatings involving a quasicrystaliine phase. It was found that a loss of Al during spraying results from the extremely low thermal conductivity of the quasicrystaliine phase in the starting powders. This loss changes the bulk composition of the deposited coating and partially controls the phases that develop. Smaller starting powder particles tended to lose more Al and, therefore, form less of the quasicrystaliine phase. Larger starting powder particles did not lose Al to the same degree, and produced coatings with more of the quasicrystaliine phase. However, these powders produced coatings also had a higher amount of porosity.

WC-Co-Cr powders with different WC particle size have been sprayed by the HVOF process. At constant spraying conditions the powders give coatings of different quality. The deposition efficiency during spraying of powders containing large WC particles was found to be low compared to powders with finer WC grains. In addition the amounts of porosity and cracks were different. The coatings have been characterised by different methods. Erosion and erosion-corrosion tests showed that the WC particle size also influence the wear resistance of the coatings. Small WC particle size was found to be beneficial. Chemical composition of the matrix was also found to be decisive for the coating properties. An increase of the chromium content improved the erosion-corrosion resistance.

To improve the mechanical properties of aluminum coatings, ceramic reinforcement may be added resulting in an aluminum matrix composite. Two processing routes were investigated to manufacture aluminum matrix composite powders for thermal spraying: ball milling and mixing. Three sizes of SiC reinforcement particles were used: 2, 15, and 25 µm. For the ball-milled powders, morphology and microstructure were investigated as a function of SiC grain size and milling time. It is shown that the hardness of the composite and the efficiency of the spray process depend on the size of the hard particles as well as the preparation method. Friction tests were also carried out and the results are shown to correlate with coating microstructure.

Cold spray is a material deposition process that uses a high pressure, high velocity gas jet for the deformation and bonding of particles. However, deposition of brittle or hard materials such as ceramics has not been successful: unless they are co-deposited with a ductile matrix material. This paper examines the WC particle size and its influence on the deposition of Co-based cermets. Micro- and nano-structured powders with similar Co content were employed. Varying the WC particle size influenced significantly the deposition efficiency of the coating process. Micrometer-structured WC-Co feedstocks did not permit coating build up when processed under comparable or elevated thermal spray parameters used for the nanostructured WC-Co feedstocks. In addition, micrometer-structured WC-Co coatings exhibited a conjoint erosion and deposition effect on the surface. Fine WC particles (<1 μm) were observed near to the substrate interface and larger WC particles (1-2 μm) in the vicinity of the coating surface. These observations indicate the existence of a critical WC particle size for deposition by the cold spray method and that the size criteria arises due to the formation and cohesion mechanisms within the coating layer.

The cermet coatings constituted by a metallic phase mixed with a ceramic one allows obtaining coating properties with a wide range of variations. This is particularly interesting for graded coatings produced by APS technique with two different injection ports devoted to each kind of powder. By monitoring the powder feed rates independently it is relatively easy to obtain the requested composition and also the gradient as a function of the coating thickness. In the present work 600 ìm graded coatings were produced with 5 or 6 layers, each one with a specific composition. The hardness properties of the whole coating were evaluated by the Knoop technique. Also each layer was produced separately and characterized as well. These coatings were devoted to thermo-mechanical applications. In this work the metallic phase is always NiCr 80/20 wt% and the ceramic phase is zirconia doped with yttria or ceria as well as Al 2 TiO 5 . The powders used as a standard have a size range included between 40 and 10 µm. Smaller size ranges were evaluated to produce NiCr / ZrO 2 , Y 2 O 3 graded coatings and were compared to those obtained with the standard powder. In this last part a post heat treatment of the coating was evaluated against the mechanical properties.

The aim of this paper is to study the influence of plasma spray set-up parameters, such as the hydrogen percentage in the plasma forming gas and arc current, as well as powder injection parameters: the carrier gas flow rate and injected particle size on the melting, vaporization and velocity of particles of a Fe-Cr based alloy and stainless steel AISI 316L. Particles were collected in flight in a cylinder where they were quenched by argon jets to prevent there flattening at impact and chemical interaction with their environment. After collection, particles were analyzed by SEM, EDS and X-ray diffraction. When the injected particle size was between 60 and 100 µm, particles collected in flight exhibit complex shapes with a mean diameter of 40 µm, and the higher was the percentage of hydrogen the smaller was the resulting mean diameter. This probably corresponds to an inefficient cooling by the argon jets resulting in particles impacting at the bottom of the collector and partially exploding. When the injected particle size was between 10 and 35 µm, collected particle were nearly spherical with almost the same mean diameter, but then the oxidation changed with spray parameters. Measurements of temperature and velocity of the in-flight particles during plasma spraying were done using the Spray Watch (Oseir, Finland) equipment. Relationships between in-flight particle parameters and characteristics of the collected particles were found. Abstract only; no full-text paper available.

The importance of high velocity for good particle deposition efficiency in the cold spray process is well known. Small particles achieve high velocities during nozzle acceleration, but also decelerate rapidly in the flow downstream of the bow shock wave. This study examines the effect of particle size on velocity and deposition efficiency in the cold spray process by means of flow modeling and gas-particle dynamics. Particle trajectories are modeled from the nozzle chamber to the impact with the substrate. Optimum particle size is identified for various particle characteristics and spray configurations.

Superior wear resistance property of cast iron coatings is strongly linked to their microstructure. Graphite formation in plasma sprayed cast iron deposit is the main reason for this distinct phenomenon owing to its self-lubricant property. Since solidification rate affects graphite formation, optimization of spray conditions such as substrate temperature, chamber pressure, particle size and spray distance are required to slow down the solidification rate. The adhesion property of cast iron coating depends strongly on the adhesive strength between the first deposited layer and the substrate. It is important to improve the adhesive strength of splats by optimization of spray parameters. In this paper, cast iron splats were sprayed on aluminum substrate by plasma spray method using high Si and Al cast iron powders in Ar atmosphere. The effect of particle size and spray distance on splat microstructure (including graphite distribution) and its adhesive strength has been investigated. A correlation between microstructure and solidification rate was also introduced. Spraying by using large particle size leads to an increase in the number fraction of disk splats and a decrease in the splat’s adhesive strength. In contrast, the number fraction of star-shaped splats and their adhesive strength increase by spraying using small particle size. Longer spray distances lead to a decrease in number fraction of disk splats and their adhesive strength. The rear-side observation of cast iron splats sprayed with different spray distances show no distinct difference.