Development of thermal spray processes with liquid feedstocks

Abstract

The manufacture of submicrometer-structured coatings by thermal spraying is currently a\nsubject of increasing research efforts in order to obtain unique and often enhanced properties\ncompared to conventional coatings. Injecting suspensions of submicron ceramic particles into\nthe plasma jet or the flame enables to deposit finely-structured coatings. Such fine\nmicrostructures are desired for a large range of applications, such as in the field of thermal\nbarrier coatings (TBCs) for gas turbines. Suspension plasma sprayed (SPS) TBCs show\nunique mechanical, thermal and optical properties compared to conventional atmospheric\nplasma sprayed (APS) TBCs. They have thus the potential of providing increased TBC\nperformances under severe thermo-mechanical loading