High Velocity Suspension Flame Spraying (HVSFS) has been developed to thermally spray suspensions containing micron, sub micron and nanoparticles with hypersonic speed. For this purpose, the suspension is introduced directly into the combustion chamber of a modified HVOF torch. The aim in mind is to achieve dense coatings with a refined microstructure. Especially from nanostructured coatings superior physical properties are expected for many potential applications. Direct spraying of suspensions offers flexibility in combining and processing different materials. It is a cost saving process and allows the allocation of entirely new application fields. The paper gives an overview of the HVSFS spray method and will present some actual results that have been achieved by spraying the nanooxide ceramic materials Al2O3, TiO2, 3YSZ and Cr2O3.

The High-Velocity Suspension Flame Spraying (HVSFS) technique, a recently-developed modification to the standard HVOF process enabling the use of suspension feedstock, was employed in order to deposit Al2O3 coatings from a nanopowder suspension. These coatings were compared to conventional APS and HVOF-sprayed ones. HVSFS coatings possess lower overall porosity and lower pore interconnectivity degree. Indeed, most of the nanoparticles were fully melted by the gas jet, thus forming very thin, well-flattened lamellae, having smaller columnar crystals than conventional coatings. Accordingly, HVSFS coatings possess higher hardness and elastic modulus, as determined from nanoindentation tests. Ball-on-disk tribological tests also indicate that HVSFS coatings possess much better sliding wear resistance than conventional ones, because they are capable of forming denser and more protective surface tribofilms during dry sliding.