The influence of deposition temperature and thermal conductivity of substrate on the splat formation

Ni20Cr splats were sprayed onto polished substrates at different preheating temperatures in an argon atmosphere by Low Pressure Plasma Spray to reveal the dominating factor on the effective interface bonding formation. The splat morphology, microstructure and splat-substrate interface bonding were characterized by SEM and EBSD. The interface for examination of typical splats was prepared by FIB. Disk splats were obtained on AISI 304 stainless steel substrates preheated to temperatures of 100°C (cooling from 350°C), 350 and 550°C. Moreover, typical distinct two-zone microstructure feature was observed on the splat surface by SEM and EBSD, including central coarse grain and marginal fine grain. When the preheating temperature was higher than 350°C, effective bonding formed only in the entire central coarse zone, whereas no effective bonding was observed in the fine grain zone. By using glass, copper, nickel and 304 SS as substrates, it was found that increasing thermal conductivity of metallic substrates has little effect on splat diameter and morphology and however decreased the area fraction of central coarse grain zone. It was revealed that the melt/substrate interface temperature plays a crucial role on the interface bonding formation.