Influence of the Stand-Off Distance and Spray Angle on the Coating Formation and Properties During Three-Cathode Plasma Spraying

Abstract

Three-cathode plasma spraying is characterized by high process robustness in terms of particle in-flight properties due to high stability of plasma jet. However, during coating parts with complex geometries, process parameters such as stand-off distance and spray angle usually cannot be kept at optimized conditions. In this study, the process robustness during three-cathode plasma spraying of a novel FeCrMnBC alloy was investigated by varying stand-off distance and spray angle to simulate spray conditions for complex geometries. A three-cathode plasma generator TriplexProTM-210 was used to spray FeCrMnBC powder with a fraction of -45 +20 µm onto substrates of cast iron EN-GJL-250. The stand-off distance and the spray angle were varied from d=90 mm to d=110 mm and between ø=90° and ø=60°, respectively, while the other process parameters were kept constant. The results revealed that the reduction of spray angle caused an about 15 % decrease of coating thickness, about 40 % porosity increase and about 15% increase of bond strength. In contrast, the variation of stand-off distance changed only insignificantly the coating thickness, porosity and bond strength. The variation of stand-off distance and spray angle did not result in significant changes in the coating microhardness. The reduction of spray angle resulted in significant worsening of the corrosion protection ability of the coating system.