Solid Particle Erosion Behaviour of Plasma-Sprayed Conventional and Nanostructured Al2O3-13 wt% TiO2 Ceramic Coatings

In this study, conventional and nanostructured Al2O3-13 wt% TiO2 coatings were fabricated by plasma spraying. The microstructural characteristics, bonding strength and solid particle erosion behaviours of the two types of coatings were compared. Results indicated that the traditional coating has a typical laminated structure. The nanostructured coating exhibited a bimodal microstructure consisting of fully melted regions and partially melted regions. The bonding strength and erosion wear resistance of the nanostructured coating were considerably better than those of the conventional one due to compact microstructure and nanoparticles of partially melted regions. Erosion failure analysis showed that the conventional coating was dominated by brittle erosion, whereas the nanostructured coating was dominated by brittle erosion as well as some ductile erosion.