In the present work, pure Al and Al-Al 2 O 3 composite coatings are deposited by cold spraying while measuring in-flight particle velocities. Residual stresses, evaluated using the Almen curvature method, X-day diffraction, and modified layer removal, are correlated with particle velocity, coating thickness, and alumina content. Peening stresses due to plastic deformation were estimated to be less than 100 MPa and are shown to be nearly constant through the thickness of the coatings.

Plasma-sprayed, molten nickel particles (60 µm diameter) were photographed during impact on oxidized 304L stainless steel surfaces that were maintained at room temperature or at 350oC. The steel samples were oxidized at different temperatures. Droplets approaching the surface were sensed using a photo detector and after a known delay, a fast charge-coupled device (CCD) camera was triggered to capture time-integrated images of the spreading splat from the substrate front surface. A two-color pyrometer was used to collect the thermal radiation from the particles to follow the evolution of their temperature after impact. Molten nickel particles impacting on oxidized steel at room temperature fragmented significantly, while heating the surfaces produced splats with disk-like morphologies. Impact on steel that was highly oxidized induced the formation of finger-like splash projections at the splat periphery. The splat cooling rate and thermal contact resistance between the splat and non-heated oxidized steel varied significantly as the degree of oxidation increased; heating the oxidized steel greatly reduced the variations. It was suggested that the large variations in splat cooling rates and thermal contact resistances on the non-heated oxidized steel was due primarily to the presence of adsorbates on the steel surface.

For a decade now, industrial sensors have been commercially available to both academia and industry. In general, these sensors measure individual and/or bulk properties of the powders being sprayed. Experience has shown that normally, researchers will tend to favor sensors with high spatial resolution like the DPV 2000, because of the fundamental information they give about the plume structure. Such information is vital for proper gun design and spray parameter optimization. However, for process monitoring applications typically performed with a sensor like the AccuraSpray, it is often more convenient to measure global properties over a wider volume inside the plume. In this case, there is always a tradeoff to be made between spatial resolution and fundamental process understanding. This paper illustrates this point by comparing two optical configurations, one with high spatial resolution and another one with medium resolution. This latter configuration makes use of a cylindrical lens to expand the sensor field of view in a direction perpendicular to the spray direction. Results clearly show that with minor optical modifications such sensors can be tailored to precise industrial requirements.

Numerous efforts have been carried out over the years to improve process control in the thermal spray industry. Among those, the need for online monitoring of the thickness of the coating is unquestionable as it leads directly to better uniformity, less powder usage and increased productivity. In 2006, a new technology based on 3D profiling has been adapted to the thermal spraying environment and has shown conclusive results for online real-time monitoring of the thickness of single layers as they were being sprayed. A micron level resolution was achieved independently of the process, the powder and the thermal effects related to thermal spraying. In this paper, we present the latest results from early industrial implementations. New applications of this technology for substrate geometries with increased complexity are also investigated.

Plasma-sprayed, molten molybdenum particles (~40 µm diameter) were photographed during impact (with velocity ~110 m/s) on Inconel surfaces that were preheated or maintained at room temperature or 400oC. A droplet approaching the surface was sensed using a photodetector and after a known delay, a fast CCD camera was triggered to capture images of the spreading splat from the substrate front surface. A rapid two-color pyrometer was used to collect the thermal radiation from the impacting particles to follow the evolution of their temperature and size after impact. Molten molybdenum particles impacting on surfaces at room temperature disintegrated and splashed, after achieving a maximum diameter larger than 400 µm. Impact on preheated and heated Inconel produced splats with maximum diameters between 200 µm and 300 µm and with less splashing. The cooling rate of splats on the preheated Inconel was larger than that of splats on non-heated Inconel, suggesting that the splat-substrate contact was improved.

In the past ten years, significant progress has been made in the field of advanced sensors for particle and spray plume characterization. However, there are very few commercially available technologies for online characterization of the as-deposited coatings. In particular, coating thickness is one of the most important parameter to monitor and control. Current methods such as destructive tests or direct mechanical measurements can cause significant production downtime. This paper presents a novel approach that enables online, real-time and non-contact measurement of individual spray pass thickness during deposition. Micron-level resolution was achieved on various coatings and substrate materials. The precision has been shown to be independent from surface roughness or thermal expansion. Results obtained on typical HVOF and plasma sprayed coatings are presented. Finally, current fields of application, technical limitations and future developments are discussed.

Plasma-sprayed, molten molybdenum particles (~50 µm diameter) were photographed during impact (with velocity ~135 m/s) on a glass surface that was maintained at either room temperature or 400°C. A droplet approaching the surface was sensed using a photodetector and after a known delay, a laser was triggered to illuminate the spreading splat and photograph it with a CCD camera. A rapid two-color pyrometer was used to collect the thermal radiation from the impacting particles to follow the evolution of their temperature and size after impact. Molten molybdenum particles impacting on a surface at room temperature splashed and broke up after impact leaving only a small portion adhering to the substrate. On a surface held at 400°C, there was no splashing and a circular splat remained on the surface. Splats on a glass surface held at room temperature had a large maximum spread diameter, approximately 2.7 times that on a hot surface. The cooling rate on a cold surface was an order-of-magnitude lower than that on a hot surface, suggesting that thermal contact resistance was much greater.

Individual particles of various ceramic materials sprayed by water stabilized plasma torch (WSP) were characterized in flight by an optical sensing device DPV-2000. Temperature, velocity, and diameter of individual particles were measured at the center of particle plume and maps of the particle plume cross-section were acquired as well. Plasma jet and consecutively particle plume of the WSP torch is much larger compared to gas stabilized torches and even larger than the maximum span of the DPV-2000 sensing head. In summary, temperatures of particles varied from 2000 to 2600°C and their velocities from 60 to 140 m/s depending on the powder feedstock cut size, particle density, feeding distance, spraying distance, and feed rate. The last three parameters were varied to study their effect on the particle states and their distribution in the plasma jet and to correlate these results with selected properties of the corresponding coating. Some of the spraying parameter effects are difficult to interpret, nevertheless, general trends have been established.

Tungsten particles were sprayed by a novel plasma torch with hybrid water-gas stabilization (WSP®-H). Several spraying parameters were varied – arc current, argon flow rate, carrier gas flow rate and spraying distance. The temperature and velocity of the individual particles were monitored by the DPV 2000 optical sensor. Individual splats were collected on polished stainless steel substrates and analyzed by SEM to assess their melting, flattening and/or fragmentation. These features were correlated with the basic in-flight particle characteristics and conditions for production of dense coatings were sought for. Significant dependence of the splats morphology on spraying parameters was found, and important improvement of particle melting at WSP-H over conventional water stabilized plasma torch (WSP) was registered.

The Accuraspray is a new in-flight particle sensor that provides information on the average in-flight particle temperature, using two-color pyrometry, and velocity, using a cross-correlation calculation. Various aspects influencing the reliability of the sensor estimates are studied. First, the sensitivity of the temperature and velocity estimates to the positioning of the sensor with respect to the particle jet, such as the angular orientation of the fibers and the working distance to the spray plume, is evaluated. Then, the influence of the plasma radiation on the temperature measurement is estimated. This influence can be reduced significantly by filtering out the low frequency components of the pyrometric signals, which contain most of the plasma fluctuations. Finally, a lower limit in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), for which an acceptable temperature estimate is obtained, is evaluated. A valid velocity estimate can still be obtained with a lower SNR. All these studies were performed under various spraying conditions, including plasma spraying and HVOF, using various feedstock materials (YSZ, Al-Si, cermets).

Innovation and improvements are described which yield a 20 fold increase in the signal-to-noise level of a two fiber, twin wavelength high speed pyrometer used for in-flight particle diagnostics. Examples are given of how these developments extend the application range of the technology to low temperature processes such as flame spraying of low emissivity materials.

In this paper, we describe a new sensor for monitoring inflight particles in thermal spray processes. The sensor can measure simultaneously and in real-time, the mean velocity and mean temperature of the particle jet for a very broad range of powder feed rates. The thermal radiation emitted by the hot particles is collected by a lens and focused on two optical fibers. Knowing the distance between the optical fibers and the magnification of the optics, the mean particle velocity is computed by measuring the time delay between the signals collected in the two fibers by cross-correlation. The signals are band-pass filtered to prevent spurious reflection, equipment movement and noise from disturbing the measurement. Using the same signals filtered at two specific wavelengths, the mean temperature of the particle jet is obtained by the two-color pyrometry technique. In this technique, the temperature is computed from the ratio of the light intensity detected at two different wavelengths.