Life cycle assessment of using powder and liquid precursors in plasma spraying : the case of yttria-stabilized zirconia

International audiencePlasma spraying using liquid precursors makes possible the production of finely-structured coatings and thin coatings. This technology has been investigated for nearly ten years in many laboratories and applications are now emerging, using conventional plasma equipment except for the feedstock injection system. While superior quality is expected from the nano-structured coatings, the question remains as to the impacts of using liquid precursors on the environment. In this study, we used the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to compare the conventional plasma spray process using powder feedstock, with injection of the precursor in the form of a liquid solution or suspension. The LCA methodology consists of identifying and comparing the environmental impacts of feedstock, energy inputs, products and emissions (solid, liquid and gaseous) of these two alternatives. The LCA study was carried out using the SimaPro program developed in the Netherlands and a peer-reviewed database of upstream materials and energy (EcoInvent v.2). The specific application studied was the plasma spraying of yttria-stabilized zirconia

Cold spraying combined to laser surface pre-treated using PROTAL

International audienc

Lasers and thermal spray

International audienceBasically, thermal spray and laser processing can be considered as half brothers since they show many common features due to the use of a (more or less) high-energy source for both. Their combination can therefore be very fruitful and prominent to achieve coatings, which results in their most recent and advanced applications. In the materials processing development story, the laser will thus have moved from cutting to coating. This keynote presentation focuses on the recently-developed coupling of laser processing to cold spray). In this dual process, a cold spray gun is combined to a laser head in a single device, e.g. on a robot. Series of coating experiments using various laser irradiation conditions, primarily pulse frequency, were carried out for Al-based and Ni-based alloys. Laser pre-treatment of the substrate just prior to cold spray, was shown to be beneficial for adhesion of cold-sprayed coatings. Adhesion improvement was exhibited and studied from LASATesting (LASAT for “LAser Shock Adhesion Test”). Incidentally, through LASAT also, the role of lasers in the development of thermally-sprayed coatings can be considered as major. Results are discussed in the light of a TEM (Transmission Electron Microscope) study of the coating-substrate interface with and without laser pre-treatment

A Socratic approach to surface modification: The example of Thermal Spray

International audienc

A Socratic approach to surface modification: The example of Thermal Spray

International audienc

A Socratic approach to surface modification: The example of Thermal Spray

International audienc