Processing-microstructure-properties relationships in small-particle plasma-sprayed ceramic coatings

The objective of this study was to determine processing-microstructure-properties relationships for small-particle plasma-sprayed (SPPS) ceramic coatings. Plasma-sprayed yttria partially-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) coatings, which are used to protect superalloys from heat and the environment in turbine engines, and plasma-sprayed alumina coatings, which are being investigated as a potential replacement for chrome in corrosion protection applications, were fabricated using SPPS technology and their microstructure and pertinent properties were examined. The properties of plasma-sprayed YSZ and alumina coatings were investigated with designed experiments. The parameters varied include power, spray distance, total plasma gas flow, percent hydrogen in the plasma gas, injector angle, injector offset and carrier gas flow. The variations in thermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity, elastic modulus, and hardness for the YSZ SPPS coatings were found to correlate to the variations in density, which were related to the processing variables. It was found that surface roughness was related to the amount of splashing and debris associated with the single splats. In four-point bending strain tolerance and fatigue tests, the SPPS YSZ coatings showed very little acoustic emission activity, except in the case of tensile fatigue of a coating without network cracks. Small angle X-ray scattering experiments revealed that SPPS YSZ coatings have significantly less submicron intersplat porosity than conventional plasma-sprayed coatings, and that the pore and microcrack scattering area decreases with heat treatment due to the sintering of microcracks and small pores.; The SPPS alumina coatings were optimized to produce a coating with excellent corrosion protection capabilities. It was found that the hardest SPPS alumina coatings did not provide the best corrosion protection due to unique porosity defect structures associated with surface bumps in the coatings. The surface bumps were associated with conditions that produced splats that had high amounts of splashing and debris. Significant improvements in properties, such as surface roughness, thermal conductivity, hardness, strain tolerance, fatigue resistance, and corrosion protection, were achieved for both the SPPS YSZ and SPPS alumina coatings compared to conventionally plasmasprayed YSZ and alumina coatings.