Spray prints of thermal spray coatings were created on glass slides for air
-plasma-sprayed 8-wt % -yttria-partially-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) deposits
. The spray parameters such as carrier gas flow rate, standoff distance, an
d torch power were systematically changed to investigate the influence of t
hese parameters on the YSZ deposit characteristics. The deposit properties
such as deposition efficiency (DE), substrate coverage, deposit thickness,
and roughness were measured. The deposits sprayed with a 3.5-4.0 L/min carr
ier gas flow rate at an 80 mm standoff distance exhibited higher values of
DE within the range of studied process parameters. The DE increased as much
as 25% by varying the carrier gas flow rate from 2.0 to 4.0 L/min, The dep
osits sprayed at a higher standoff distance and low torch power gave poor d
eposit characteristics. The deposit characteristics were compared with the
in-night particle parameters and revealed that the deposit characteristics
strongly depended on the in-flight particle temperature. Using the in-fligh
t particle properties, the flattening ratio and the splat thickness were ca
lculated. The average size of particles adhering to the substrate was found
to drastically change with a change of process conditions, being much less
than the average size of the starting powder.