In-Flight Particle Characterization and Coating Formation of Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia Under Low Pressure Plasma Spray Condition

In recent years, the production of coatings obtained by LPPS process (Low Pressure Plasma Spraying) was successfully introduced in industrial markets in aerospace, gas turbines, and medical applications and other special applications. The deposition of coatings with superior properties requires an improved understanding of this complex spray process including the in-flight particle temperature and velocity. In this study, DPV-2000 (Tecnar, St-Bruno, QC, CA) was used to characterize the LPPS process at different operational pressure range from typically 250 mbar to 150 mbar. Measurements of the temperatures and velocities of in-flight Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) particles were carried out in an argon–hydrogen plasma jet. The YSZ coatings were also deposited in accordance with different detecting parameters. The structure and the phase content of coating were analyzed by SEM and XRD in this paper.