Parametric Analysis and Modeling for the Porosity Prediction in Suspension Plasma-Sprayed Coatings

The porous architecture of suspension plasma-sprayed coatings has a significant influence on the coating performances and thus should be properly designed for the intended applications. In this study, YSZ coatings were manufactured by suspension plasma spray (SPS), and a parametric study was performed with five different process parameters: suspension mass load, original powder particle size, substrate surface topology, spray distance, and spray step. Afterward, the porosity of the as-prepared coatings was investigated by imaging and x-ray transmission technique. A multivariate analysis on the collected experimental data was carried out. The results indicated that: (1) The total porosity of SPS coatings increases with the decrease in suspension mass load, while it shows the opposite trend by decreasing the spray distance, original powder particle size, substrate roughness, and spray step; (2) The main factor affecting coating total porosity is spray distance. Finally, a predictive model for coating total porosity was developed and was verified by experiments. Control of total porosity by using the predictive model was presented and explained as well.