Effects of argon gas flow rate on the microstructure and micromechanical properties of supersonic plasma sprayed nanostructured Al2O3-13Â wt.%TiO2 coatings

Nanostructured Al2O3-13 wt.%TiO2 (n-AT13) ceramic coatings were fabricated by supersonic plasma spray (SPS) using agglomerated powders. Effects of the argon gas flow rate (AGFR) on microstructure and micromechanical properties of n-AT13 ceramic coatings, which have been widely used to improve the wear and corrosion resistance, were investigated. The microstructure, porosity, micro-hardness, elastic modulus and fracture toughness of coatings were experimentally determined and characterized. The results showed that the measured data of micro-hardness, elastic modulus, fracture toughness and porosity followed Weibull distribution and had a large scattering. Micro-hardness, elastic modulus and fracture toughness exhibit a characteristic of bimodal distribution because of a bimodal distributional microstructure, which was composed of fully molten regions (FM) and partially molten regions (PM). With the increasing AGFR, the mean values and characteristic values of micro-hardness as well as elastic modulus increased and reached a local maximum and then decreased. However, the mean values and characteristic values for porosity as well as fracture toughness had opposite trends. Characteristic values and mean values of fracture toughness increased with the increase in values of porosity, but those of micro-hardness and elastic modulus were opposite.