A new approach to simulate coating thickness in thermal spray

In the process of thermal spray on complex components, the coating thickness is an important parameter to monitor and control. Current methods such as destructive tests or direct mechanical measurements can only be performed after spraying as an afterthought. Moreover, they are complicated to operate, which sometimes lead to production shutdown and higher costs. This article presents a novel approach that permits convenient and accurate prediction of coating thickness. Firstly, a three-dimensional geometric model of the coating profile based on Gaussian distribution was developed. Secondly, this model is coupled with robotic trajectories and thermal spraying parameters to simulate the progress of thermal spraying in robotic offline programming software. Finally, the distribution of the coatings and predicted coating thickness are presented in the graphical virtual environment. According to the results of the simulation, the robot trajectory, operating parameters and spray strategy can be adjusted by the feedback loop until achieving the desired coating thickness distribution. Simulations and experimental verification were carried out in this study. The experimental results showed that the model can correctly simulate the thickness of the coatings on complex curved surfaces, especially in the case of shadowing effects.

Key word: coating thickness; simulation; robotic trajectory; curved surface