Excellent corrosion resistance has made titanium a preferred material for use in industry with harsh environments. Protective titanium coatings combined with cheap bulk materials are expected to enable sufficient corrosion protection and lower the cost. Plasma spray processing of titanium feedstock becomes a challenging topic of research as titanium powder particles have to experience high temperatures in the flight during the thermal spraying process in an open air environment. In this paper, plasma spraying of titanium has been carried out by using a shroud in order to shield molten particles from reacting with surrounding environment. Microstructure analyses on the titanium coatings were performed by using SEM, EDS and XRD. The results show that the shroud attachment is capable of withstanding high plasma temperatures; the as-sprayed shrouded titanium coating exhibits a similar phase composition as the pure titanium powder, and an enhanced microstructure with a lower porosity for the titanium coating plasma-sprayed with a shrouding system is observed.

Titanium and its alloys are often used for corrosion protection because they are able to offer high chemical resistance against various corrosive media. In this paper, shrouded plasma spray technology was applied to produce titanium coatings. A solid shroud with an external shrouding gas was used to plasma spray titanium powder feedstock with aim of reducing the oxide content in the as-sprayed coatings. The titanium coatings were assessed by optical microscope, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, LECO combustion method and Vickers microhardness testing. The results showed that the presence of the shroud and the external shrouding gas led to a dense microstructure with a low porosity in the plasma-sprayed titanium coatings. The oxygen and nitrogen contents in the titanium coating were kept at a low level due to the shielding effect of the shroud attachment and the external shrouding gas. The dominant phase in the shrouded titanium coatings was mainly composed of α-Ti phase, which was very similar to the titanium feedstock powders. The shrouded plasma-sprayed titanium coatings had a Vickers microhardness of 404.2 ± 103.2 HV.

Abstract. Excellent corrosion resistance has made titanium a preferred material for use in industry with harsh environments. Protective titanium coatings combined with cheap bulk materials are expected to enable sufficient corrosion protection and lower the cost. Plasma spray processing of titanium feedstock becomes a challenging topic of research as titanium powder particles have to experience high temperatures in the flight during the thermal spraying process in an open air environment. In this paper, plasma spraying of titanium has been carried out by using a shroud in order to shield molten particles from reacting with surrounding environment. Microstructure analyses on the titanium coatings were performed by using SEM, EDS and XRD. The results show that the shroud attachment is capable of withstanding high plasma temperatures; the as-sprayed shrouded titanium coating exhibits a similar phase composition as the pure titanium powder, and an enhanced microstructure with a lower porosity for the titanium coating plasma-sprayed with a shrouding system is observed.