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Suspension Plasma Spraying: Process Characteristics and Applications

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Abstract

Suspension plasma spraying (SPS) offers the manufacture of unique microstructures which are not possible with conventional powdery feedstock. Due to the considerably smaller size of the droplets and also the further fragmentation of these in the plasma jet, the attainable microstructural features like splat and pore sizes can be downsized to the nanometer range. Our present understanding of the deposition process including injection, suspension plasma plume interaction, and deposition will be outlined. The drawn conclusions are based on analysis of the coating microstructures in combination with particle temperature and velocity measurements as well as enthalpy probe investigations. The last measurements with the water cooled stagnation probe gives valuable information on the interaction of the carrier fluid with the plasma plume. Meanwhile, different areas of application of SPS coatings are known. In this paper, the focus will be on coatings for energy systems. Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) for modern gas turbines are one important application field. SPS coatings offer the manufacture of strain-tolerant, segmented TBCs with low thermal conductivity. In addition, highly reflective coatings, which reduce the thermal load of the parts from radiation, can be produced. Further applications of SPS coatings as cathode layers in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and for photovoltaic (PV) applications will be presented.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Mr. K. H. Rauwald, Mr. R. Laufs and Mr. Vondahlen (all IEF1, FZ Jülich) for the manufacture of the plasma-sprayed coatings. Special thanks to Dr. Alexandra Stuke for performing measurements of the optical properties of TBCs, Dr. Dag Hathiramani for preparation of SOFC components and Dr. Zeng Yi for preparation of several photovoltaic cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Institut für Energieforschung (IEF-1), 52425, Jülich, Germany

    Robert Vaßen, Holger Kaßner, Georg Mauer & Detlev Stöver

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  1. Robert Vaßen
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  2. Holger Kaßner
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  3. Georg Mauer
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  4. Detlev Stöver
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Correspondence to Robert Vaßen.

Additional information

This article is an invited paper selected from presentations at the 2009 International Thermal Spray Conference and has been expanded from the original presentation. It is simultaneously published in Expanding Thermal Spray Performance to New Markets and Applications: Proceedings of the 2009 International Thermal Spray Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, May 4-7, 2009, Basil R. Marple, Margaret M. Hyland, Yuk-Chiu Lau, Chang-Jiu Li, Rogerio S. Lima, and Ghislain Montavon, Ed., ASM International, Materials Park, OH, 2009.

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Vaßen, R., Kaßner, H., Mauer, G. et al. Suspension Plasma Spraying: Process Characteristics and Applications. J Therm Spray Tech 19, 219–225 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11666-009-9451-x

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