Team Thermal Coating Technologies

The team develops thermal coating technologies focusing on thermal spraying processes. Thermal spray techniques comprise coating processes in which surfacing materials are heated to the more or less plastic or molten state and then propelled onto a prepared surface. Powders, suspensions, or solutions are used as feedstock. The substrate remains unmelted. The energy carrier is a high-energy gas jet originating from compressed gas, from combustion of a gaseous or liquid fuel, from plasma generated by an electric arc discharge or a laser beam.

Thermal Spray Processes
At IEK-1, various state-of-the-art industrial coating equipment is available, covering a wide range of materials and applications:
- Cold gas spraying (CGS), aerosol deposition (AD),
- High velocity oxy-fuel spraying (HVOF),
- High velocity air fuel spraying (HVAF),
- Atmospheric plasma spraying (APS),
- Low pressure plasma spraying (LPPS), Very low pressure plasma spraying (VLPPS), and plasma spray-physical vapor deposition (PS-PVD).

Thermal spraying can provide relatively thick coatings over a large area at high deposition rates. Coating materials include:
- Alloys, e.g. MCrAlY, NiCr, stainless and ferritic steels, Inconel;
- Metals, e.g. tungsten, copper, titanium;
- Oxide ceramics, e.g. ZrO2, Al2O3, TiO2, spinels, pyrochlores (e.g., Gd2Zr2O7), perovskites, aluminates;
- Non-oxide ceramics and composites, e.g. B4C, WC/Co, MAX phases.

Process Diagnostic Methods
Plasma and particle in-flight characteristics are analyzed to gain understanding of the process and to manage quality:
- Plasma: enthalpy probe, optical emission spectroscopy;
- Particles: particle temperatures, velocities, and diameters, shadowgraphy of the particle flux;
- Stresses: in-situ measurement by curvature analysis.