Erosion behavior of thermal sprayed, recycled polymer and ethylene–methacrylic acid composite coatings

Polymer consumption is increasing and the recycling rate is 30–40 wt.%. Thus any process or application that uses recycled plastic residue will be looked upon with favor. It has been demonstrated that post-consumer commingled polymer, or PCCP, coatings can be produced by thermal spraying. Furthermore, polymeric coatings are widely used as protective coatings against solid particle erosion. Therefore, in this paper the erosion behavior of thermal spray coatings that have some PCCP material is investigated. The coatings were produced using a low velocity combustion thermal spray process and a PCCP mixed with different levels of virgin ethylene–methacrylic acid co-polymer (EMAA). The erosion rates using 50 μm alumina were determined at impact angles of 30° and 90°. The wear features were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and profilometry. The results exhibited brittle wear features, consistent with the relationship between erosion rates and mechanical properties of the polymers. However, a decrease in erosion rate with an increase in impact angle, from 30° to 90°, indicates ductile behavior during erosion.