Processing Diagnostics and Spray Consistency

The growing global activity in thermal spray coatings, due to the broadening of research and development, and many functions being commercialized. Even so, it has challenges with repeatability, reproducibility and reliability (RRR) for the production of quality and the dense coating. To achieve these RRRs need their proper understanding, and to improve them requires optimization of thermal spray process parameters. Using in-flight particle diagnostic systems for monitoring and controlling parameters like temperature and velocity improved the reproducibility and repeatability of suspension plasma spray coatings. By measuring these process parameters, it will be useful to optimize the parameters using machine learning methods in order to achieve the above specified RRRs. This chapter provides information about limitations in the monitoring and measuring of in-flight particle. The main aim of this chapter is to give the knowledge to the reader about the in-flight particle parameters, and their effect on splat-type distribution and coating microstructure. Also, this chapter gives knowledge about the different diagnostic systems for monitoring and measuring of in-flight particle temperature, velocity distributions. Many researchers have attempted to obtain these RRRs by better understanding and monitoring the parameters of the thermal spray process.