Characterization of Structure of Thermally Sprayed Coating

Abstract The structure of a thermally sprayed coating is generally of lamellar structure. There is generally porosity in the coating. The examination shows that the relationship between properties and porosity for conventionally processed porous materials is difficult to be applied to thermally sprayed coating because of complex pore networks. The lamellar structure of the coating and the bonding at the interfaces between lamellae often determine the properties of coating. It is generally difficult to evaluate quantitatively the structure of a thermally sprayed coating because of complicated pore networks in the coating. With the filling of the material different from the composition of the coating into the pores the structure of the coating including nonbonded interface area and also generally referred pores can be visualized. According to the distribution of filler in the coating the structure of a coating can be quantitatively evaluated using structural parameters such as lamellar thickness, lamellar bonding ratio, the width of interface gap and so on. The structural parameters necessary to describe the lamellar structure of thermal sprayed coatings and a method based on the pore filling and analysis of the distribution of filled materials are proposed.