Plasma Sprayed Coating Using Mullite and Mixed Alumina/Silica Powders

Plasma sprayed ceramic coatings are widely used for thermal barrier coating applications. Commercially available mullite powder particles and a mixture of mechanically alloyed alumina and silica powder particles were used to deposit mullite ceramic coatings by plasma spraying. The coatings were deposited at three different substrate temperatures (room temperature, 300?°C, and 600?°C) on stainless steel substrates. Microstructure and morphology of both powder particles as well as coatings were investigated by using scanning electron microscopy. Phase formation and degree of crystallization of coatings were analyzed by x-ray diffraction. Differential thermal analysis (DTA) was used to study phase transformations in the coatings. Results indicated that the porosity level in the coatings deposited using mullite initial powder particles were lower than those deposited using the mixed initial powder particles. The degree of crystallization of the coatings deposited using the mixed powder particles was higher than that deposited using mullite powder particles at substrate temperatures of 25 and 300?°C. DTA curves of the coatings deposited using the mixed powders showed some transformation of the retained amorphous phase into mullite and alumina. The degree of crystallization of the as sprayed coatings using the mixed powder particles was significantly increased after post deposition heat treatments. The results indicated that the mechanically alloyed mixed powder can be used as initial powder particles for deposition of mullite coatings instead of using mullite powders.     

Effect of substrate temperature on adhesion strength of plasma-sprayed nickel coatings

We plasma-sprayed nickel coatings on stainless steel and cobalt alloy coupons heated to temperatures ranging from room temperature to 650 °C. Temperatures, velocities, and sizes of spray particles were recorded while in-flight and held constant during experiments. We measured coating adhesion strength and porosity, photographed coating microstructure, and determined thickness and composition of surface oxide layers on heated substrates. Coating adhesion strength on stainless steel coupons increased from 10–74 MPa when substrate temperatures were raised from 25–650 °C. Coating porosity was lower on high-temperature surfaces. Surface oxide layers grew thicker when substrates were heated, but oxidation alone could not account for the increase in coating adhesion strength. When a coupon was heated to 650 °C and allowed to cool before plasma-spraying, its coating adhesion strength was much less than that of a coating deposited on a surface maintained at 650 °C. Cobalt alloy coupons, which oxidize much less than stainless steel when heated, also showed improved coating adhesion when heated. Heating the substrate removes surface moisture and other volatile contaminants, delays solidification of droplets so that they can better penetrate surface cavities, and promotes diffusion between the coating and substrate. All of these mechanisms enhance coating adhesion.     

Erosion wear behaviour of plasma sprayed NiCrSiB/Al2O3 composite coating

In this work, 60 wt.% NiCrSiB–40 wt.% Al₂O₃ composite coating was produced on AISI 304 substrate material using the atmospheric plasma spraying technique. The coating surface has been characterised using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), optical microscope and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). The microhardness, porosity, density and surface roughness of the coating were measured. The adhesion strength of the coating was measured using pull off adhesion tester. The erosion behaviour of plasma sprayed coating was studied at 450 °C using hot air jet erosion testing machine. The erosion rate of coated and uncoated samples was evaluated at 30° and 90° erodent impact angles. The SEM images of the eroded samples were taken to analyse the erosion mechanism. The test results reveal that the coating protects the substrate at both 30° and 90° impact angles.     

The Influence of the Coating Deposition Process on the Interdiffusion Behavior Between Nickel-Based Superalloys and MCrAlY Bond Coats

In this work, interdiffusion between two nickel-based superalloys and two MCrAlY bond coats is investigated. The MCrAlY bond coats were applied using two different spraying processes, high velocity oxygen fuel spraying (HVOF) and low-pressure plasma spraying. Of primary interest is the evolution of Kirkendall porosity, which can form at the interface between substrate and bond coat and depends largely on the chemical compositions of the coating and substrate. Experimental evidence further suggested that the formation of Kirkendall porosity depends on the coating deposition process. Formation of porosity at the interface causes a degradation of the bonding strength between substrate and coating. After coating deposition, the samples were annealed at 1050 °C for up to 2000 h. Microstructural and compositional analyses were performed to determine and evaluate the Kirkendall porosity. The results reveal a strong influence of both the coating deposition process and the chemical compositions. The amount of Kirkendall porosity formed, as well as the location of appearance, is largely influenced by the coating deposition process. In general, samples with bond coats applied by means of HVOF show accelerated element diffusion. It is hypothesized that recrystallization of the substrate material is a main root cause for these observations.     

The Influence of Temperature on Frictional Behavior of Plasma-Sprayed NiAl-Cr2O3 Based Self-Adaptive Nanocomposite Coatings

Frictional behavior of nano and hybrid-structured NiAl-Cr₂O₃-Ag-CNT-WS₂ adaptive self-lubricant coatings was evaluated at a range of temperatures, from room temperature to 700 °C. For this purpose, hybrid structured (HS) and nanostructured (NS) composite powders with the same nominal compositions were prepared by spray drying and heat treatment techniques. A series of HS and NS coating samples were deposited on steel substrate by an atmospheric plasma spraying process. The tribological behavior of both coatings was studied from room temperature to 700 °C at 100° intervals using a custom designed high temperature wear test machine. Scanning electron microscopy was employed for the evaluation of the composite coatings and worn surfaces. Experimental results indicated that the hybrid coating had inferior tribological properties when compared to the nanostructured coating, showing the attractive frictional behavior on the basis of low friction and high wear resistance; the NS coating possessed a more stable friction coefficient in the temperature range of 25-700 °C against alumina counterface. Microstructural examinations revealed more uniformity in NS plasma-sprayed coatings.     

Microstructure and Properties of Cu Coating Fabricated onto Diamond-Cu Substrate by Low-Temperature HVOF Process

Diamond-Cu composites have been considered to be the next generation of electronic packing materials. One of the key stumbles for such an application is the joining problem between diamond-Cu composites and other materials due to the poor wettability of the diamond particles in the composites. In order to overcome this hurdle, pure Cu powder was thermally sprayed onto diamond-Cu substrate by low-temperature high-velocity oxygen fuel spraying process. Microstructure and some fundamental properties of the coating obtained were systematically investigated, and morphologies of the single splat deposited on the diamond-Cu substrate were also observed. The splats obtained have good adhesion with the substrate as fine particles flattened sufficiently, while the coarse particles were significantly deformed. The coating was quite dense with porosity lower than 1%, oxygen content under 0.5% and thermal conductivity about 266 Wm^?1 K^?1 and still remained on the diamond-Cu substrate after 50 thermal shock cycles between 300 °C and water bath at room temperature. Meanwhile, the solderability of the coating was significantly improved. Therefore, Cu coating deposited on diamond-Cu substrate by low-temperature high-velocity oxygen fuel spraying process can be beneficial in electronic industry assisting with soldering and improved wettability for joining of other materials.     

Effect of some parameters on microstructure and hardness of alumina coatings prepared by the air plasma spraying process

The spraying distance, substrate temperature, coating thickness and surface roughness of substrate during deposition play an important role on the plasma spray coating process and effect the final properties of the coatings. Al₂O₃ coatings on AISI 304 L stainless steel substrate were prepared to investigate the effects on the coating of these parameters. The results indicated that the parameters such as the spraying distance, substrate temperature, coating thickness and substrate roughness were fairly effected the hardness, porosity and surface roughness of Al₂O₃ coatings. The lowest surface roughness and the lowest porosity and the highest hardness values of Al₂O₃ coating were obtained for the spraying distance of 12 cm and the surface roughness of 3.28 μm and the substrate temperature of 500 °C. It also found that the increases of coating thickness were lowered the hardness and enhanced the porosity and the coating roughness.     

Effect of heat treatment in air on bonding strength and micro-structure of Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>-13 wt % TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>/NiCrAl coating prepared by air plasma-spray process

According to the principle of plasma spraying, air plasma spraying Al₂O₃-13 wt % TiO₂/NiCrAl coating (AT13) on Q235 steel-substrate have some important disadvantages of high porosity, poor adhesive to substrate and low cohesive within the coating. Owing to such weaknesses, an enhancing densification and improving bonding of plasma-sprayed AT13 with an appropriate post air heat treatment is an effective method. On the basis of our final experimental results, post air heating treatment could improve the bonding strength and micro-structure of AT13. The AT13 shows the highest bonding strength and lowest Porosity when heating up to 560°C for 6 hours. Such performances may be because the re-crystallizing, reaction-diffusion of element diffusion and compressive stress of transitional layer. However, air heating temperature higher than 560°C led to the decline of the bonding strength. The excessive oxidizing products and compressive stress of oversized transitional layer could be contributed to the phenomenon.     

Failure of physical vapor deposition/plasma-sprayed thermal barrier coatings during thermal cycling

ZrO₂-7 wt.% Y₂O₃ plasma-sprayed (PS) coatings were applied on high-temperature Ni-based alloys precoated by physical vapor deposition with a thin, dense, stabilized zirconia coating (PVD bond coat). The PS coatings were applied by atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) and inert gas plasma spraying (IPS) at 2 bar for different substrate temperatures. The thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) were tested by furnace isothermal cycling and flame thermal cycling at maximum temperatures between 1000 and 1150 °C. The temperature gradients within the duplex PVD/PS thermal barrier coatings during the thermal cycling process were modeled using an unsteady heat transfer program. This modeling enables calculation of the transient thermal strains and stresses, which contributes to a better understanding of the failure mechanisms of the TBC during thermal cycling. The adherence and failure modes of these coating systems were experimentally studied during the high-temperature testing. The TBC failure mechanism during thermal cycling is discussed in light of coating transient stresses and substrate oxidation.     

Failure mechanism of MCrAlY coating at the coating‐substrate interface under type I hot corrosion

MCrAlY coatings are widely used to provide protection of hot component in modern gas turbine engines against high‐temperature oxidation and hot corrosion. Coating‐substrate interface, where the substrate is only partially covered by the ?coatings, is vulnerable to the hot corrosion attack. The accelerated degradation at the coating‐substrate interface can cause fast spallation of the coating, leading to the early failure of the gas turbine components. In this paper, MCrAlY powder was deposited on IN792 disks by high‐velocity oxygen‐fuel spraying. The hot corrosion behavior of the coated sample was investigated using (0.8Na, 0.2K)₂SO ₄ salt deposition at 900°C in lab air. Results showed a minor attack in the coating center, however, an accelerated corrosion attack at the coating‐substrate interface. The fast growth of corrosion products from substrate caused large local volume expansions at the coating‐substrate interface, resulting in an early coating spallation.     

Dissolution of Plasma-Sprayed Wollastonite Coatings: The Effects of Microstructure Coupled with Stress

Wollastonite coatings are deposited on the U-shape titanium alloy coupons by atmospheric plasma spraying at substrate temperatures of room temperature and 400?°C, respectively. The effects of applied stresses and microstructure on the dissolution behavior of wollastonite coatings have been investigated. The dissolution rate is characterized by the ion concentration changes of Ca, Si, and P in the SBF solution. The coatings deposited at room temperature show higher porosity and lower crystallinity, and further higher dissolution rate is observed, compared with the coatings deposited at a substrate temperature of 400?°C. Applied tensile stresses promote the coating dissolution. The effect of compressive stresses on the dissolution of coatings depends on the balance between the hindrance effect and the promotion action caused by the debonding and/or peeling off. The stress condition cannot change the phase transformation process when the substrate crystal structure is adverse for the apatite precipitation.     

Effect of Substrate Preheating on Bonding Strength of Cold-Sprayed Mg Coatings

A poor bonding strength between the magnesium coating and substrate limits magnesium coating’s application. This paper aims at improving the bonding strength between the coating and substrate using substrate preheating. Aluminum substrates were heated to 100, 200 and 300 °C by a flame nozzle prior to cold spraying. The effects of substrate preheating on the microstructure and bonding strength were studied. The deformation behavior of single particles was simulated by a commercial software ABAQUS, and observed using SEM. The results show that substrate preheating can increase the bonding strength significantly. The bonding strength increased from 3.3 ± 0.8 to 11.6 ± 0.5 MPa when the substrate temperature increased from room-temperature to 200 °C. The fracture analyses show that the coating fracture occurred within the coating when the substrate was preheated at 200 °C.     

Microstructural Characteristics and Oxidation Behavior of Low-Pressure Cold-Sprayed CoNiCrAlY Coatings

CoNiCrAlY coatings were deposited by low-pressure cold spraying and subsequently heat-treated at 1050 °C for 4 h in a vacuum environment. The microstructural characteristics and oxidation behavior of CoNiCrAlY coatings were investigated. The as-sprayed coating exhibited low porosity and oxygen content. The high plastic deformation of the sprayed particles led to significant refinement of γ-matrix and dissolution of β-(Ni,Co)Al phase in the as-sprayed coating. After heat treatment, the single phase (γ) in the as-sprayed coating was converted into a γ/β microstructure, and a continuous single α-Al₂O₃ scale was formed on the coating surface. Vacuum heat treatment can postpone the formation of spinel oxides within 100 h. After being oxidized at 1050 °C for 400 h, the heat-treated coating exhibited better oxidation resistance than the as-sprayed coating. The reduced growth rate of the oxide scale and the suppression of the formation of spinel oxides can be attributed to the vacuum heat treatment, as well as the intrinsic microstructure of the cold-sprayed coating. Finally, the effects of the microstructural changes induced during the cold spraying process on the growth of the thermally grown oxide and the oxidation mechanisms of the CoNiCrAlY coatings were discussed.     

Zircon-Based Ceramics Composite Coating for Environmental Barrier Coating

Studies on plasma spraying of zircon (ZrSiO₄) have been carried out by the authors as one of the candidates for an environmental barrier coating (EBC) application, and had reported that substrate temperature is one of the most important factors to obtain crack-free and highly adhesive coating. In this study, several amounts of yttria were added to zircon powder, and the effect of the yttria addition on the structure and properties of the coatings were evaluated to improve the stability of the zircon coating structure at elevated temperature. The coatings obtained were composed of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), glassy silica, whereas the one prepared from monolithic zircon powder was composed of the metastable high temperature tetragonal phase of zirconia and glassy silica. After the heat treatment over 1200 °C, silica and zirconia formed zircon in all coatings. However, coatings with higher amounts of yttria exhibited lower amounts of zircon. This resulted in the less open porosity of the coating at elevated temperature. These yttria-added coatings also showed good adhesion even after the heat treatment, while monolithic zircon coating pealed off.     

Splat shapes in a thermal spray coating process: Simulations and experiments

We studied the deposition of nickel particles in a plasma spray on a stainless steel surface using both experiments and numerical simulations. We developed a three-dimensional computational model of free-surface fluid flow that includes heat transfer and solidification and used it to simulate the impact of nickel partcles. In our experiments, particles landing on a polished stainless steel surface at a temperature below 300 °C splashed and formed irregular splats, whereas those deposited on substrates heated above 400 °C formed round disk splats. Simulations showed that formation of fingers around the periphery of a spreading drop is caused by the presence of a solid layer. Droplets that spread completely before the onset of solidification will not splash. To sufficiently delay the instant at which solidification started in our simulations to obtain disk splats, we had to increase the thermal contact resistance between the droplet and the substrate by an order of magnitude. We measured the thickness of the oxide layer on the test surfaces used in our experiments and confirmed that heating them creates an oxide layer on the surface that increases the thermal contact resistance. We demonstrated that the numerical model could be used to simulate the deposition of multiple droplets on a surface to build up a coating.     

Compositionally Graded Thermal Barrier Coating by Hybrid Thermal Spraying Route and its Non-isothermal Oxidation Behavior

The present study concerns a detailed investigation of the characteristics and oxidation resistance property of a duplex and compositionally graded thermal barrier coating on Inconel 718. The duplex coating consists of a CoNiCrAlY bond coat layer sprayed on to sand-blasted Inconel 718 substrate (by high velocity oxy-fuel spraying) followed by deposition of a yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) top coat by plasma spraying. The compositionally graded coating consists of several layers deposited by plasma spraying of pre-mixed CoNiCrAlY and YSZ powders in the weight ratios of 70:30, 50:50, 30:70, and 0:100 varying from the bond coat to the top surface, respectively. A detailed investigation of the microstructure, composition, and phases in the coating and its non-isothermal oxidation behavior from room temperature to 1250°C was performed. Oxidation proceeds by three stages in the as-received Inconel 718 and the compositionally graded coating, but by two stages in the duplex coating with a maximum activation energy for oxidation in the compositionally graded coating at high temperature (stage III). The kinetics and mechanism of oxidation were established.     

Quality Improvement of Flame Sprayed, Heat Treated, and Remelted NiCrBSi Coatings

In this study, properties of NiCrBSi coatings, produced by a two-step process of flame deposition and furnace posttreatment, are analyzed. Adhesion strength, microstructure, porosity, microhardness, chemical composition, and residual stresses were analyzed after deposition and after heat treatment; that is, remelting. Numerous specimens were made to study the adhesion strength of coatings after flame deposition. The four chosen influential factors, that is, surface roughness, preheat temperature of the substrate, distance of flame torch, and type of oxyacetylene flame, were optimized to maximize the adhesion strength, using the Taguchi parametric method. The confirmation experiment showed that the developed experimental model is suitable for optimization of flame spraying deposition process. Based on the evaluation of coating properties, the best overall quality was obtained after remelting at a peak temperature 1080 °C with 5 minutes of holding time, followed by slow air cooling.     

Effect of vacuum heat treatment on microstructure and microhardness of cold sprayed Cu-4Cr-2Nb alloy coating

The effect of vacuum heat treatment on the microstructure and microhardness of cold-sprayed Cu-4%Cr-2%Nb alloy coating was investigated. The heat treatment was conducted under the temperatures from 250 ℃ to 950 ℃ with a step of 100 ℃ for 2 h. It was found that a dense thick Cu-4Cr-2Nb coating could be formed by cold spraying. After heat treatment, a Cr2Nb phase was uniformly distributed in the matrix, which was transferred from the gas-atomized feedstock. A little grain growth of Cr2Nb phase was observed accompanying with the healing-up of the incomplete interfaces between the deposited particles at the elevated temperatures. The coating microhardness increases a little with increasing the temperature to 350 ℃, and then decreases with further increasing temperature up to 950 ℃. This fact can be attributed to the microstructure evolution during the heat treatment.     

Influence of Pre-Heated Al 6061 Substrate Temperature on the Residual Stresses of Multipass Al Coatings Deposited by Cold Spray

In this work, the influence of the substrate temperature on the deposition efficiency, on the coating properties and residual stress was investigated. Pure Al coatings were deposited on Al 6061 alloy substrates using a CGT Kinetics 3000 cold spray system. The substrate temperature was in a range between 20 (room temperature) and 375 °C and was kept nearly constant during a given deposition while all the other deposition parameters were unchanged. The deposited coatings were quenched in water (within 1 min from the deposition) and then characterized. The residual stress was determined by Almen gage method, Modified Layer Removal Method, and XRD in order to identify both the mean coating stress and the stress profile through the coating thickness from the surface to the coating-substrate interface. The residual stress results obtained by these three methods were compared and discussed. The coating morphology and porosity were investigated using optical and scanning electron microscopy.     

Quantitative Analysis of the Relationship Between Microstructures and Thermal Conductivity for YSZ Coatings

The thermal conductivities of as-sprayed yttria-stabilized zirconia thermal barrier coating prepared by atmospheric plasma spraying at different temperatures are investigated based on quantitative microstructural analysis. Multiple linear regression is used to develop quantitative models which describe the relationship between multiple elements such as porosity, grain boundary density, monoclinic phase content, temperature and thermal conductivity. Results reveal that the thermal conductivity of the coating is mainly determined by the porosity and grain boundary density below 300 °C and by the monoclinic phase content above 800 °C. Furthermore, based on the significance testing analysis, the confidence interval under a confidence level of 95% at different temperatures enables researchers to predict the thermal conductivity based on microstructural information.