Influence of Deposition Temperature on the Splat Bonding and Mechanical Properties of Plasma-Sprayed Tungsten Coatings

The mechanical properties of thermally sprayed metallic coatings are limited by the bonding between splats.In this study,tungsten coatings were deposited at different deposition temperatures by controlling the substrate temperature through shrouded plasma spraying.The dependence of the splat bonding and mechanical properties of W coatings on deposition temperature was investigated.The results showed that the apparent porosity of the coatings decreased from 3.2%to 0.3%with the increase of the deposition temperature.The Young’s modulus of W coating was significantly increased from 128 to 307 GPa as the deposition temperature increased from room temperature to 800°C.The microhardness of the coatings was less influenced by the deposition temperature.It was found that splat bonding across lamellae was formed when the deposition temperature was higher than 600°C compared to the obvious lamellae interface in the coatings deposited at temperatures lower than 600°C.The results evidently revealed that the mechanical properties of plasma-sprayed W coatings could be controlled through the splat bonding by altering deposition temperature.