Design of powder feedstocks for Net Shape Coatings

Since a few years, the HVAF process has been established as a commercially used process and gained its share in the market for thermal spraying. The thermal spray materials being mainly used are those based on tungsten carbide. Economical aspects and REACH have grown the demand to work on thinner WC based coatings which are still dense and wear resistant. Ideally, also the binder material is designed without the use of Co in order to be prepared for stricter REACH limitations. This demand has increased and the trend is showing a further growth of thermal spray feedstock for HVAF sprayed net shape coatings. The challenge for powder producers consists in providing suitable spray powders on high and consistent volume and to be able to make recommendations to the users of HVAF technology. For this, a deeper understanding of the powder requirements for net shape coatings, how to match the needs with new powder solutions and the differences in behavior or performance depending on the powder type are important.