Online Diagnostic System to Monitor Temperature of In-Flight Particles in Suspension Plasma Spray

Suspension plasma spray (SPS) is going through a transition phase from research and development to daily use on production lines. Improving repeatability and reproducibility of coating elements and parameters makes SPS a replacement of former well-developed processes. This transition can be achieved by using in-flight particles diagnostic systems to monitor and control key parameters that influence the coating microstructure. Temperature and velocity of the in-flight particles are among the most critical parameters that should be monitored. However, accurately characterizing the in-flight particles in SPS is particularly challenging due to the small particle size of coating materials, harsh spray conditions, considerably shorter spray distances compared to APS, possible interference from the solvent, and limitations of previous measurement systems. In this study, different strategies were investigated to improve the accuracy of temperature measurements of in-flight particles in SPS. For this purpose, two light collection configurations (double-point and single-point measurement) were investigated along with the influence of plasma radiation. The results were evaluated by collecting and studying splats. The size and shape of splats were correlated with the temperature of in-flight particles in order to confirm the accuracy of the sensor’s temperature measurements. In addition, the sensitivity of temperature measurements to the optical filter used for two-color pyrometry, reflection of plasma radiation from surrounding objects, and direct radiation from plasma were investigated. The results showed that the single-point measurement configuration was well adapted for SPS.