Robotic Microplasma Spraying and Characterization of Zirconium Coatings

Abstract

The paper presents new results of studying the influence of the parameters of microplasma spraying of Zr wire on the structure of Zr coatings. This study focuses on new robot-assisted technologies for plasma coating of medical implants. This includes robotic microplasma spraying of Zr coatings on biomedical Ti implants. The design of the movement of the robot arm provides a coordinated and individual operation of the plasma coating. Scanning electron microscopy was used to analyse the structure of the coatings. The possibility of controlling the porosity of Zr microplasma coatings in the range from 2.8% to 20.3% by changing the parameters of microplasma deposition was established. The new robotic microplasma spraying technology developed from this research represents a promising solution for medical implant manufacturing.