Effect of Spraying Parameters on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Micro-Plasma Sprayed Alumina-Titania Coatings

Electrical property of a micro-plasma spray system with different working-gas feeding schemes was tested to optimize the plasma spray process. The arc voltage with an integrated gas injection mode is higher than that with radial injection or axial injection modes. Thus, an integrated gas injection mode with an excellent electrical characteristic was adopted to deposit alumina-titania coating. The microstructure, bonding strength and hardness of the plasma sprayed alumina-titania coating, as a function of the spraying parameters, e.g., plasma current, gas flow rate and gas pressure, were studied. It was shown that the spraying parameters affected remarkably on the microstructure of the coating. Different tendencies in bonding strength and hardness were also shown for different spraying parameters. At an arc current of 250 A, a gas flow rate of 20 L/min and a gas pressure of 0.5 MPa, the bonding strength and micro-hardness of the coatings reach 40.6 MPa and HV1406.1, respectively.