| Abstract | The microstructure features of coatings produced by a plasma spray process are affected significantly by the process parameters such as powder size, spray gun nozzle size, total plasma gas flow, ratio of H2 + N2 over total gas flow, and so on. This article presents a study of the effects of these parameters on the microstructure (porosity, formation of crack, unmelted particle and oxide phase) of NiCrAlY coatings deposited by the Mettech Axial III™ System. A Taguchi array is used to design the spraying process parameters. The results of the microstructure evaluation are used to generate regression equations for the prediction of coating microstructure based on process parameters. The results predicted from the regression equations are in good agreement with the experimental results according to a confidence level of 0.95. Among the parameters examined, the powder size and the ratio of H2 + N2 over total gas flow rate are the most significant parameters affecting the occurrence of crack, porosity, unmelted particle and oxide. Within the range of the designed process parameters, lower powder size and higher ratio of H2 + N2 over total gas flow rate lead to less cracks, pores, unmelted particles but more oxides. Nozzle size has marginal influence on oxides which increase with nozzle size. Gas flow rate has no direct influence on any coating feature evaluated with the range of variation. |
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