J. H. Ahn, J. H. Kim, RIST, Pohang, South Korea; S. Lee, POSTECH, Pohang, South Korea

Summary: The wear characteristics of plasma spray coated layer of nano alumina-titaina composite powder have been investigated, in this study, focusing on the effect of TiO2 contents in Al2O3 and parameters of plasma spray coating process. While the formation of the partially melted agglomerates has been generally accepted as the major reason for the superiority of the nano Al2O3-13wt.% TiO2 coatings over conventional micron-sized Al2O3-13wt.% TiO2 ones, these results clearly demonstrate that the strength of the splat boundaries plays more important role on the wear property of the nano Al2O3-13wt.% TiO2 coating system