Low Pressure Plasma Spray – Thin Film ® at Sandia National Laboratories

Sandia National Laboratories is currently operating a Low Pressure Plasma Spray – Thin Film® (LPPS-TF®) system in Albuquerque, NM. Using this vacuum plasma spray system, Sandia; working in conjunction with the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology; has prepared thin (< 100 micron), dense, Yittria-Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) coatings using three deposition mechanisms: liquid droplet, mixed mode (liquid droplet + vapor), and vapor deposition.  Despite slight differences in equipment configuration, this work duplicates and confirms many of the results reported by Refke, et.al. (LPPS Thin Film Technology for the Application of TBC Systems; A. Refke, D. Hawely, J. Doesburg, and R.K. Schmid, 2005 International Thermal Spray Conference). This presentation will discuss the configuration of Sandia’s LPPS-TF® system as well as the processing conditions used at Sandia to prepare droplet, vapor, and mixed mode coatings. Microstructural analysis demonstrating all three deposition modes will also be presented.

 

Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.