Comparison of the structure and wear resistance of Al2O3–13 wt.%TiO2 coatings made by GSP and WSP plasma process with two different powders

The goal of this study is to compare two Atmospheric Plasma Spraying (APS) systems for elaborating alumina/titania coatings with good wear resistance. Both torches used were a common d.c. current Gas-Stabilized Plasma gun (GSP) with argon and hydrogen as plasma forming gases, and a Water-Stabilized high-throughput Plasma gun (WSP) working with water as plasma forming substance. The feedstock were either cladded alumina/titania powder or a mixture of conventional fused and crushed Al2O3 powder with agglomerated TiO2 nanometric particles, the resulting mean size in both cases being about 50 µm. Feedstock material phases were α-alumina and anatase titanium dioxide and the composition of both powders was 13 wt.% of TiO2 in Al2O3. Coatings obtained were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). They presented lamellar structures with titania uniformly distributed in the alumina matrix, for both spray techniques. X-ray diffraction showed that anatase phase of titania was converted into rutile phase. The wear resistance tested by slurry abrasion (SAR) has shown that the best coating was that obtained with cladded powder sprayed by GSP process. This finding matched with the highest microhardness of this coating (Vickers indentation). It is worth noting that with these two relatively dissimilar torches similar results were obtained for the wear resistance of alumina–13 wt.% titania coating.