Gas Gun Flyer Plate Impact Testing of Stainless Steel Deposited by Low Pressure Plasma Spraying and Cold Gas Dynamic Spraying

Samples of 316 stainless steel were deposited by low pressure plasma spray under three different sets of parameters to vary the structures of the coatings. In addition, cold gas dynamic spraying was utilized to deposit 316 stainless steel for comparison to the plasma sprayed material. The coatings were characterized by cross sectional metallography to determine the porosity, degree of oxidation, extent of particle flattening and localized elemental composition. Each of the four samples was tested in flyer plate impact tests in a gas gun to determine the shock propagation and porosity compaction properties of each deposit. Testing was conducted at three different impact velocities to more completely characterize the deposit dynamic properties. The most porous sample was tested in a three level thickness stepped configuration to determine equation of state while the other samples were tested in a single thickness configuration to measure shock-wave profiles as a function of deposition parameters. Comparison of the results between the coatings and to reference wrought 316 stainless steel shows the effect of deposition conditions on the dynamic behavior of the deposits.