Application Integration of Thermal Spray Coatings

Over the last century, thermal spray coatings have found wide spread applications in a diverse array of industries: from automotive to aerospace to medical implants.  From its humble beginnings through flame spraying of zinc for cathodic protection to advanced functional oxides in energy systems, the technology and industry has enjoyed impressive growth with an estimated value of some $ 6B per year worldwide.  Much of the early developments and  and rapid growth in the 1960s and 1970s were aerospace system driven particularly due to extraordinary demands on materials imposed in high temperature turbines.  Translating these early successes to other industrial sectors turned out to be a challenging task and met with mixed successes in recent years.    This presentation will examine critical attributes of coating integration into systems from both historical and contemporary perspectives and explore future needs in science and technology to address.