The prospects for the development of high performance alumina coatings using detonation gun technique

Alumina coatings, usually obtained by air plasma spraying, have found a wide range of applications in the textile and chemical industries. However, for certain demanding applications requiring either wear or corrosion resistance, the high porosity and low bond strength characteristic of plasma sprayed Al2O3 coatings, limit their use. For such applications, the use of a detonation gun (D-gun) technique to obtain Al2O3 coatings with lower porosity and higher bond strength (than plasma spray coatings) appears to be an attractive proposition. The broad objective of this study is to develop Al2O3 coatings using the D-Gun and to assess such coatings for properties such as porosity, bond strength, hardness and resistance to thermal cycling.