To determine the effect of bond coat oxidation on the coating life, thermal shock testing were performed, using three different thermal cycles. The failure mode and crack paths were investigated in scanning electron microscope. A finite element model was developed to simulate the thermal shock tests. First, transient temperature fields during the thermal cycling were calculated. Second, stresses and strains evolving in the coatings due to thermal expansion mismatches and temperature gradients during the cycling were computed. The stress concentration at the interface due to the roughness of the bond coat was accounted for by using an ideal sinusoidal interface in the model. By adding an oxide layer with and without residual stresses to the model, the influence of the bond coat oxidation was determined. Both the experimental and numerical results revealed that the TBC failed by crack initiating in the ceramic top coat very close to the grown oxide layer at the interface followed by coating fatigue failure. Numerical simulation indicated that bond coat oxidation led to stress concentration at the peak of the asperity of the interface proceeding crack growth. It also showed that bond coat inelasticity and ceramic creep might further enhance the crack growth. There was little effect on coating behavior due to the residual stresses in the oxide layer.

This article attempts to predict the temperature, state and velocity of Tribaloy 800 particles by means of numerical modeling. It aims to identify parameters that have a significant influence on the inflight particle characteristics for Argon/Hydrogen plasma sprayed Tribaloy 800, and to compare predicted air entrainment and particle residence times between Argon/Hydrogen and Argon/Helium plasma gas mixtures. The effect of spray parameters (primary-, secondary- carrier gas mass flows, current, spray distance and nozzle diameter) on the particle in-flight characteristics (velocity and temperature) and their interactions are studied by a two level fractional factorial experiment applied on the simulations. A comparison between argon Argon/Hydrogen and Argon/helium plasm gas mixtures is made in order to investigate whether the coating oxidation level can be reduced using Argon/Helium. Finally, the correlation between the modeled parameters and the application microstructure is studied. Paper includes a German-language abstract.

A simplified 1D model has been developed to calculate the temperature-time history of alumina layering splats. The splats were obtained by plasma spraying alumina fused-and-crushed particles onto steel substrates. The model correlates solidification time with splat layer thickness and cooling rate and helps to explain the process of columnar growth, the development of residual stresses, and the effect of quenching and expansion mismatch.

A study of the flattening and cooling of particles plasma-sprayed on a substrate is presented. The characteristic parameters of the splats are linked to the parameters of the impacting particles by using an experimental device consisting of a phase Doppler particle analyzer and a high-speed pyrometer. However, during the long experiments required to get reliable correlations, it was observed that variations in plasma spray operating conditions may alter the particles behavior in the plasma jet. Therefore, a simple and easy-to-use system was developed to control in real time the spray jet. In this paper, the effect of carrier gas flow rate, arc current and powder mass flow rate is investigated. The results on zirconia and alumina powders show the capability of the technique to sense the particle spray position and width.

The temperature within plasma-sprayed oxide coatings depends strongly on the cooling devices used during spraying as well as on coating pass thickness and powder flow rate. Two oxides, alumina and zirconia, were deposited using dc Ar-H 2 plasma jets and the shape, size, and composition of the columnar structures produced were examined and found to correspond with substrate and coating surface temperatures as measured during and after spraying. The relationship between temperature and thermomechanical properties was also investigated and the results are reported in the paper.

A system, developed in the laboratory, allows to record in situ the deformation of a flat beam with a displacement sensor and so to analyse stress formation during spraying and upon cooling with fixed or rotating substrates. The beam is fixed onto a pair of knife edges by springs. The knife edges are disposed on a water-cooled rotating cylindrical substrate holder and the beam substrate (2 x 15 x 100 mm 3 ) is parallel to the holder axis. The torch is moved back and forth parallel to the holder axis and the beam temperature is recorded by a thermocouple spot welded to it and also by an IR pyrometer. The influence of beam temperature for a given torch/substrate velocity on the residual stresses is studied for alumina and zirconia coatings. With fixed substrates a sharp increase of the residual stresses related to coating microstructure exists for a transition temperature around 600°C. It seems to correspond to a columnar growth throughout the layered splats. The effect of the torch to substrate velocity and so the pass thickness is studied too.

Joint research work between the University of Limoges and the State University of New York, Stony Brook, has been carried out on the impact and solidification of plasma sprayed zirconia particles. A measurement device, consisting of a phase doppler particle analyser and a pyrometer, was used to correlate the characteristic parameters of splats to those of the substrate and to the size, velocity and temperature of the impacting particles.

This is the second paper of a two part series based on an interdisciplinary research investigation between the University of Limoges, France, and the State University of New York, Stony Brook, USA, aimed at fundamental understanding of the plasma-particle interaction, deposit formation dynamics and microstructure development. In this paper, the microstructure development during plasma spraying of zirconia is investigated from the point of view of deposition parameters and splat formation (part I). Splats and deposits have been produced at Limoges and Stony Brook under controlled conditions of particle parameters and substrate temperatures. The zirconia splat microstructures thus obtained are examined for their shape factors, grain size, crystallographic texture and defects. Further the deposits were analyzed for phases, porosity and mechanical properties in an effort to develop a process-microstructure property relationship. The results suggest a strong role played by the deposition temperature on the microstructure and properties of the deposit.

A new instrument has been developed for measuring stresses due to particle quenching, temperature gradients during spraying, temperature fluctuations during coating formation and expansion mismatch between coating and substrate upon cooling. It records in situ and continuously the curvature of a substrate during spraying and upon cooling after spraying with a contacting displacement sensor. The substrate is fixed onto a pair of knife edges by springs. The knife edges are disposed on a water-cooled rotating cylindrical substrate holder and the substrate (2*15*100 mm 3 ) is parallel to the holder axis. The torch is moved back and forth parallel to the holder axis and the substrate temperature is recorded by a thermocouple spot welded to it. Examples of results with alumina coatings on steel substrates are presented.