Abstract
Plasma spray is one of the suitable technologies to deposit carbide coatings with high melting point, such as ZrC. However, in the spray processes performed under atmosphere, oxidation of the carbide powder is inevitable. To investigate the influence of the oxidation behavior of feedstock on microstructure and ablation resistance of the deposited coating, ZrC coatings were prepared by atmospheric and vacuum plasma spray (APS and VPS) technologies, respectively. SiC-coated graphite was applied as the substrate. The obtained results showed that the oxidation of ZrC powder in APS process resulted in the formation of ZrO and Zr2O phases. Pores and cracks were more likely to be formed in the as-sprayed APS-ZrC coating. The VPS-ZrC coating without oxides possessed denser microstructure, higher thermal diffusivity, and lower coefficients of thermal expansion as compared with the APS-ZrC coating. A dense ZrO2 layer would be formed on the surface of the VPS-ZrC-coated sample during the ablation process and the substrate can be protected sufficiently after being ablated in high temperature plasma jet. However, the ZrO2 layer, formed by oxidation of the APS-ZrC coating having loose structure, was easy to be washed away by the shearing action of the plasma jet.
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This work was jointly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation (for Young Scholar) of China under Grant 51102267 and Shanghai Science and Technology R&D Fund under Grant 11ZR1442100.
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Hu, C., Ge, X., Niu, Y. et al. Influence of Oxidation Behavior of Feedstock on Microstructure and Ablation Resistance of Plasma-Sprayed Zirconium Carbide Coating. J Therm Spray Tech 24, 1302–1311 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11666-015-0307-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11666-015-0307-2