Experimental characterization of thermal sprayed coatings on steel substrate

Thermal spray technology are increasingly used in industry to create harder coatings on mechanical components to improve the wear properties or the corrosion resistance. In this paper two different coatings sprayed on a steel surface with two different techniques, high-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) and air plasma spray (APS), were studied. A whole experimental campaign was carried out in order to characterize the coatings and investigate about adhesion to the surface and wear properties in different conditions. Furthermore coatings with different thickness, in order to evaluate the attitude of these technologies to realize thick coatings, were studied. The results obtained suggest that both the coating types have an optimal internal cohesion, a good adhesion to the substrate and good wear resistance.