In nuclear fusion reactors, the first wall is the name given to the surface which is in direct contact with the plasma. A part of it is the divertor which is a device that removes fusion products from the plasma and impurities that have entered into it from the vessel lining. It is covered with water cooled tiles which have to withstand high temperatures and high heat fluxes. Moreover, resistance to neutron bombardment, low tritium absorption and low hydrogen permeation are additional demands. One materials concept under research is the application of a Reduced Activation Ferritic Martensitic Steel (RAFM) as a structural material with a tungsten protective coating. Since there is a considerable thermal mismatch between, a functional graded materials (FGM) concept was proposed. As the formation of undesired intermetallic Fe-W phases as well as oxidation should be avoided, cold gas spraying was chosen as manufacturing process. Two powder blends of EUROFER97 RAFM steel and a fine tungsten powder cut on the one hand and a coarser one on the other hand were tested in different ratios. The coatings were characterized with respect to their porosity and surface structure. Furthermore, the deposition efficiencies for steel and tungsten were determined each. It turned out, that the deposition process is a complex mixed situation of bonding and erosion mechanisms as the deposition windows of these very different materials obviously diverge. Thus, a lower working gas temperature and pressure was advantageous in some cases. Unexpectedly, the coarser tungsten powder in general enabled to achieve better results.

Current developments in different industrial sectors show an increasing demand on thermally sprayed internal diameter (ID) coatings. But up to now, the research focus is mainly on conventional processes such as arc spraying and plasma transferred wire arc spraying (PTWA), especially for cylinder liner surfaces. However, efficient HVOF and APS torches are meanwhile available for ID applications. Thus, in the present work, the focus of research is on the ID spraying of bond coats (BC) and thermal barrier coatings (TBC) for high temperature applications. An HVOF-ID gun IDCoolFlow mono with a N 2 injection was used to spray dense BCs (MCrAlY). The TBCs (YSZ) were sprayed by applying an SM-F100 Connex APS torch. Initially, flat steel samples were used as substrates. The morphology and properties of the sprayed ID coating systems were investigated with respect to the combination of different HVOF and APS spray parameter sets.

Environmental barrier coatings (EBC) are currently being investigated to protect ceramic matrix composite (CMC) turbine engine components in water-vapor rich combustion environments. Dense, crack-free, uniform and well-adhered coatings are demanded for this purpose. This paper represents an assessment of different thermal spray techniques for deposition of Yb 2 Si 2 O 7 and silicon (Si) EBC layers. Plasma spraying of refractory silicates is known to be complicated by undesired glass transition due to rapid solidification as well as evaporation of Si-bearing species during spraying. Plasma spraying of low-density Si also requires careful optimizations as it tends to oxidize during spraying, particularly at atmospheric conditions. Bearing these problems in mind, the Yb 2 Si 2 O 7 coatings were deposited by atmospheric plasma spraying (APS), high-velocity oxygen-fuel spraying (HVOF), and plasma-spray physical vapor deposition (PS-PVD) techniques. As-sprayed microstructure, amorphous content and phase composition of the coatings were analyzed. Based on the findings, the advantages and disadvantages of each method over other techniques are discussed with respect to process parameters and material properties.

In this work, the effects of plasma spray process variables are systemized in various process schemes. On this basis, different approaches to improving process reliability are described and assessed paying particular attention to in-flight particle diagnostics. A new test applying spray bead analysis is introduced and the first results are presented.

A numerical model of a supersonic compressible plasma flow has been developed with the aid of CFD software to describe the thermodynamic and transport properties of a plasma jet in order to investigate the PS-PVD process and how to optimize it for thermal barrier coatings and, in particular, the formation of columnar microstructures. The required properties of the plasma gas mixtures were obtained as a function of temperature and pressure from thermodynamic calculations in chemical equilibrium with the effect of ionization. Two-dimensional Monte Carlo simulations were conducted to provide insight on the evolution of columnar microstructure, accounting for self-shadowing and vapor incidence angle but ignoring the effect of diffusion. Simulated structures and predicted values are presented and compared with actual images and measurements.

In this work, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results confirm earlier calculations indicating that significant evaporation occurs in plasma torch nozzles. In addition, experimental work is performed, investigating the nature of ceramic deposits produced by plasma spray-physical vapor deposition (PS-PVD), particularly coatings composed of nanosized clusters. It was found that as the hot plasma jet comes close to the relatively cool substrate, a boundary layer is formed due to the rapid drop in temperature and velocity. In summary, coatings produced by PS-PVD are a mixture of nanocluster and vapor deposition.

La 0.58 Sr 0.4 Co 0.2 Fe 0.8 O 3-δ (LSCF), deposited on a metallic porous support by means of plasma spray-physical vapor deposition (PS-PVD) is a promising candidate for oxygen-permeation membranes. However, after O 2 permeation tests, membranes show vertical cracks leading to leakage during these tests. In this work, a feature leading to crack formation has been identified. More specifically; Membrane residual stress changes during thermal loading have been found to be related to a phase transformation in the support. In order to improve the performance of the membranes, the metallic support has been optimized by applying an appropriate heat treatment. Additionally, it has been found that coatings deposited at lower oxygen partial pressures consist of 70% cubic and 26% rhombohedral perovskite phases. This increases the non-stoichiometry, which drives the formation of non-perovskite phases during annealing, affecting the membrane stability and the ionic conductivity. The amount of oxygen added during spraying can be used to suppress the cubic to tetragonal phase transformation.

In this study, a suspension containing Mg-Al-spinel nanopowder was deposited on bond-coated IN738 and stainless steel disks by suspension plasma spraying with and without substrate cooling. Coating surfaces and cross-sections were examined by SEM, EDS, and XRD analysis and thermal cycling tests were performed. SEM images of coatings obtained on cooled stainless steel show a unique columnar microstructure with a cauliflower-like surface. XRD spectra of the nanopowder and coatings revealed evidence of phase changes in the material deposited on cooled substrates. In preparing samples for thermal cycling tests, a YSZ layer was deposited on bond-coated IN738 prior to spraying the suspension. Double-layered Mg-Al-spinel/YSZ thermal barrier coatings produced on cooled substrates exhibited a thermal cycling lifetime of 2000 cycles at 1390°C, compared to 101 cycles for the TBCs sprayed without substrate cooling. The superior performance of the TBCs sprayed with substrate cooling is attributed to the densification of the coatings, revealed by SEM images, and possibly the formation of CaO-6Al 2 O 3 needles and Al 2 O 3 precipitates as identified by EDS measurements.

This study deals with the deposition of coating materials that can be difficult to process by plasma spraying, including lanthanum and gadolinium zirconate, two pyrochlores of interest for thermal barrier applications, and lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite (LSCF), a perovskite of interest for gas separation membranes. In addition to conventional atmospheric plasma spraying (APS), the feedstock powders were applied by suspension plasma spraying (SPS) and plasma spray-physical vapor deposition (PS-PVD). The spraying processes are described in detail along with the characteristics of the powders and coatings and the effects of various spray parameters on splat behavior and coating composition and structure.

In this work, plasma spray-physical vapor deposition (PS-PVD) is used to create oxygen transport membranes, consisting of gastight LaSrCoFeO thin films on porous MCrAlY metallic supports. During spraying, a protective layer of alumina forms at the interface between the membrane and support preventing interdiffusion. Surface roughness of the metallic support is shown to play a critical role in limiting microstructural defects. Phase composition, growth rate, and microstructure buildup are also investigated along with the annealing behavior of LSCF films at different temperatures. Initial results are promising and further improvements are expected by optimizing process parameters.

Atmospheric plasma spray parameters were developed for a three-cathode torch with a high-velocity nozzle and MCrAlY powders of different particle size fractions. The main objectives of the work are to achieve bond coats with low oxygen content and porosity. Other goals are achieving sufficient surface roughness at high deposition rates and efficiencies. The oxidation behavior of the sprayed coatings was characterized by thermal gravimetric analyses and isothermal heat treatments.

The durability of columnar TBCs produced by PS-PVD are strongly influenced by the compatibility of the metallic bond coat and ceramic topcoat. Studies have shown that a smooth bondcoat surface improves thermal cycling performance and that further improvements are possible by optimizing the formation of the thermally grown oxide layer. In this work, preheating and the deposition of the first coating layer are varied in order to adjust oxide growth. The results show that thermal cycling lifetimes can be more than doubled without a major increase in manufacturing time.

Plasma spraying at very low pressure (50-200 Pa) is significantly different from atmospheric plasma conditions (APS). Applying powder feedstock it is possible to defragment the particles into very small clusters or even to evaporate the material. As a consequence, the deposition mechanisms and the resulting coating microstructures could be quite different compared to conventional APS liquid splat deposition. Thin and dense ceramic coatings as well as columnar-structured strain-tolerant coatings with low thermal conductivity can be achieved offering new possibilities for application in energy systems. To exploit the potential of such a gas phase deposition from plasma spray-based processes, the deposition mechanisms and their dependency on process conditions must be better understood. Thus, plasma conditions were investigated by optical emission spectroscopy. Coating experiments were performed, partially at extreme conditions. Based on the observed microstructures, a phenomenological model is developed to identify basic growth mechanisms.

Lanthanum zirconate (La 2 Zr 2 O 7 ) was proposed as a promising material for thermal barrier coatings. At atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) of La 2 Zr 2 O 7 a considerable amount of La 2 O 3 can evaporate in the plasma flame, resulting in a non-stoichiometric coating. As indicated in the phase diagram of the La 2 O 3 -ZrO 2 system, in the composition range of pyrochlore structure, the stoichiometric La 2 Zr 2 O 7 has the highest melting point and other compositions are eutectic. APS experiments were performed with a TriplexPro-200 plasma torch at different power levels to achieve different degrees of evaporation and thus stoichiometry. For comparison, some investigations on Gd 2 Zr 2 O 7 were included which is less prone to evaporation and formation of non-stoichiometry. Particle temperature distributions were measured by the DPV-2000 diagnostic system. In these distributions, characteristic peaks were detected at specific torch input powers indicating evaporation and solidification processes. Based on this, process parameters can be defined to provide stoichiometric coatings intended to show good thermal cycling performance.

Preparation of La 1-x Sr x Fe 1-y Co y O 3-δ (LSFC) coatings by plasma spraying at low pressure (200 Pa) using different plasma spray parameters is reported and discussed. Deposition with Ar-He plasma leads always to formation of coatings containing a mixture of LSFC perovskite, SrLaFeO 4 , FeCo and metal oxides. Coatings deposited at higher oxygen partial pressures by addition of oxygen into the vacuum chamber contain more than 85% perovskite and only few percent Fe 3 O 4 and/or CoO. The microstructures of the investigated LSFC coatings depend sensitively on the oxygen partial pressure, the substrate temperature and the deposition rate.

Fracture toughness and phase stability are crucial properties of thermal barrier coatings (TBC) during highly loaded thermomechanical operations in gas turbines. While several alternative TBC materials have exhibited excellent thermal resistance, their potential applicability has been limited due to poor endurance to cyclic stresses. The addition of TiO 2 to the non-transformable tetragonal t´-YSZ has been found to effectively enhance the fracture toughness and phase stability of YSZ at high temperature exposures. Thermal cycling tests in a burner rig were conducted on TBCs prepared from atmospheric plasma sprayed titania-doped YSZ to verify this phenomena. Exposure temperature was 1400°C at the surface and thermal gradient across the sample was provided by simultaneous back-cooling treatment. Cycling tests reveal that the slight increase in the tetragonality of the deposited coatings with increasing amount of dopant did not cause a significant effect to the lifetime of the TBCs. Moreover, increasing amount of Ti-substitution did not influence the fracture toughness of the bulk YSZ.

The manufacture of submicrometer-structured coatings by thermal spraying is subjected nowadays to increasing research efforts in order to obtain unique and often enhanced properties compared to conventional coatings. Injecting suspensions of submicron ceramic particles into the plasma jet or the flame enables to deposit finely-structured coatings. Such fine microstructures can be advantageous for applications in the field of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) for gas turbines. Often, suspension plasma sprayed (SPS) TBCs show unique mechanical, thermal and optical properties compared to conventional atmospheric plasma sprayed (APS) TBCs. They have thus the potential of providing increased TBC performances under severe thermo-mechanical loading. Experimental results show the capability of SPS to obtain yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) coatings with high density of vertical segmentation cracks, yielding high strain tolerance and low Young’s modulus, while the porosity is still large compared to APS segmented coatings. Besides, sintering behavior of complete TBC systems under a thermal gradient exposure is of high importance. The evolution of the coating microstructure during thermal cycling test at very high temperature (1400°C) in our burner rigs as well as under isothermal annealing and its effects on the coating properties such as Young’s modulus were investigated.

The thin film low pressure plasma spray process (LPPS-TF) has been developed with the aim of efficient depositing uniform and thin coatings with large area coverage by plasma spraying. At high power input (~150 kW) and very low pressure (~100 Pa) the plasma jet properties change considerably and it is even possible to evaporate the powder feedstock material providing advanced microstructures of the deposits. This relatively new technique bridges the gap between conventional plasma spraying and physical vapor deposition. In addition, the resulting microstructures are unique and can hardly be obtained by other processes. In this paper, microstructures made by LPPS-TF are shown and the columnar layer growth by vapor deposition is demonstrated. In addition to the ceramic materials TiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 or MgAl 2 O 4 , the focus of the research was laid on partially yttria-stabilized zirconia. Variations of the microstructures are shown and discussed concerning potential coating applications.

The objective of this study is to investigate the feasibility of high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spraying of tool steel coating containing high boron and high carbon. A full factorial experimental design was established to investigate the influence of process parameters on the coating formation. The microstructural investigations revealed that the tool steel containing ultrahigh boron and high carbon can be coated using HVOF. The coating microstructure does not seem to be conventional lamellar structure and consists of high density micro-cracks. However, the coating features superior hardness of about 980 HV and shows the potential for wear resistance applications.

The very low pressure plasma Spray (VLPPS) process has been developed with the aim of depositing uniform and thin coatings with large area coverage by plasma spraying. At typical pressures of 100-200 Pa, the characteristics of the plasma jet change compared to conventional low pressure plasma spraying processes (LPPS) operating at 5 – 20 kPa. The combination of plasma spraying at low pressures with enhanced electrical input power has led to the development of the LPPS-TF process (TF = thin film). At appropriate parameters it is possible to evaporate the powder feedstock material providing advanced microstructures of the deposits. This technique offers new possibilities for the manufacturing of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs). Besides the material composition, the microstructure is an important key to reduce thermal conductivity and to increase strain tolerance. In this regard, columnar microstructures deposited from the vapor phase show considerable advantages. Therefore, physical vapor deposition by electron beam evaporation (EB-PVD) is applied to achieve such columnar structured TBCs. However, the deposition rate is low and the line of sight nature of the process involves specific restrictions. In this paper, the deposition of thermal barrier coatings by the LPPS-TF process is shown. It is investigated how the evaporation of the feedstock powder could be improved and to what extend the deposition rates could be increased.