Thermal expansion of vacuum plasma sprayed coatings

Metallic Cu–8%Cr, Cu–26%Cr, Cu–8%Cr–1%Al, NiAl and NiCrAlY monolithic coatings were fabricated by vacuum plasma spray deposition processes for thermal expansion property measurements between 293 and 1223 K. The corrected thermal expansion, (ΔL/L0)thermal, varies with the absolute temperature, T, as Δ L L 0 thermal = A ( T − 293 ) 3 + B ( T − 293 ) 2 + C ( T − 293 ) + D A, B, C and D are regression constants. Excellent reproducibility was observed for all of the coatings except for data obtained on the Cu–8%Cr and Cu–26%Cr coatings in the first heat-up cycle, which deviated from those determined in the subsequent cycles. This deviation is attributed to the presence of residual stresses developed during the spraying of the coatings, which are relieved after the first heat-up cycle. In the cases of Cu–8%Cr and NiAl, the thermal expansion data were observed to be reproducible for three specimens. The linear expansion data for Cu–8%Cr and Cu–26%Cr agree extremely well with rule of mixture (ROM) predictions. Comparison of the data for the Cu–8%Cr coating with literature data for Cr and Cu revealed that the thermal expansion behavior of this alloy is determined by the Cu-rich matrix. The data for NiAl and NiCrAlY are in excellent agreement with published results irrespective of composition and the methods used for processing the materials. The implications of these results on coating GRCop-84 copper alloy combustor liners for reusable launch vehicles are discussed.