High-functionally composite materials by gas tunnel type plasma spraying

Summary form only given. The material thermal processing using the nano-technology is now advanced towards more precise and controllable smart stage. Regarding plasma processing, plasma spraying system with high precise, has been expected for smart thermal processing. A gas tunnel type plasma spraying system exhibits high energy density and also high efficiency. One practical application of plasma processing is plasma spraying of ceramics such as Al₂O₃ and ZrO₂. The characteristics of these ceramic coatings were superior to the conventional ones. The ZrO₂ composite coating¹ has the possibility of the development of high functionally graded TBC (thermal barrier coating). In this paper, the performance such as the mechanical properties, thermal behavior and high temperature oxidation resistance of the alumina/zirconia functionally graded TBCs produced by gas tunnel type plasma spraying was described and discussed. The results showed that the alumina/zirconia composite system exhibited the improvement of mechanical properties and oxidation resistance. Now, one of the advanced plasma application is expected to obtain the desired characteristics of ceramics with improved corrosion resistance, thermal resistance, and wear resistance.