Thermal spray coatings

Nanoindentation is a fast and convenient way to quantitatively characterize the complex microstructures of plasma sprayed coatings. The two loading heads of the NanoTest system covering 0-500 mN (low) and 0-20 N (high load head) allow investigation of features at the nano- and micro- scales without the need to remove the test sample when swapping between the loading ranges. The NanoTest high resolution metallurgical microscope is used to accurate place indentations (to within 1 micron) at the desired location.

Research groups currently using the NanoTest to improve the quality of plasma sprayed and HVOF coatings include Prof. Subra Suresh’s group at MIT, Prof. Sanjay Sampath’s group at SUNY at Stonybrook and Prof. Bill Clyne’s group at the University of Cambridge. Research at SUNY and MIT in particular has shown the importance of modulus determination as an indicator of coating quality.

A recent guest editorial in the journal Surface Engineering “Improving thermal spray coating quality in the 21^st century by nanomechanical property testing” (Surface Engineering vol. 17 2001, p345-346) is available on request – simply email us and we will send you a free copy.