Characterisation and wear performance of plasma sprayed borosilicate glass micro-sphere coatings on metallic substrates

Abstract

Plasma spray coating is a process that includes melting, rapid solidification and quenching taking place simultaneously. It utilises the exotic properties of the plasma medium to effect physical, chemical or metallurgical reactions to produce new materials or to impart new functional properties to conventional materials. The present paper reports on the preparation of borosilicate glass microspheres (BGM) coatings on metallic substrates using plasma spray technology. It is found that BGM are eminently coatable on metallic substrates although the coating deposition efficiency is not encouragingly high. The coatings are characterised in terms of their thickness, coating adhesion strength, porosity and hardness. Coating micro–structures are observed using a high resolution scanning electron microscope. Solid particle erosion wear trails are conducted at different operating conditions. Parametric appraisal of the wear process is done using Taguchi's experimental design approach based on the signal to noise ratio.