Development of Alternative Method of Blasting and Ultra-High Adhesive Strength Thermal Spray Coatings by Vacuum Arc Treatment

Abstract

There are some problems for the environment and for the human body in a conventional blasting process when it is used for the pre-treatment of thermal spray. They are, for example, generation of noise and dust. One possible method to overcome these problems is a vacuum arc cleaning (VAC) process. It is possible for this technology to both surface cleaning and roughen surface. The VAC process is good for the environment as well as the human body, because this process takes place inside a chamber.
In this study, the first aim is to establish the VAC process as the alternative of blasting, and the second aim is to develop ultra-high adhesive strength plasma spray coatings by employing blasting and the VAC process as the pre-treatment of plasma spray.
The adhesive strength higher than 50 N/mm² is achieved only by applying the VAC process as pre-treatment and higher than 90 N/mm² is achieved by employing the VAC process after blasting.