Laser surface patterning to enhance adhesion of plasma sprayed coatings

In thermal spraying, adhesive bond strength is a feature of surface properties. An adapted surface is studied with prior-surface treatments to enhance interface energy. This study deals with Ni–Al coatings on 2017 aluminum alloy substrate produced by atmospheric plasma spraying. The adherence was evaluated with several controlled surface topographies obtained by grit-blasting and laser surface texturing technique. Adherence has been tested with two different techniques: pull-off test and LASer Adhesion Test. They induce different stresses at the interface. The results showed that the adhesive strength is mostly controlled by a contact adhesion area. A large contact area increases the energy release rate at the interface during coating failures. The bond strength tendency for the two adherence tests is similar: apparent adherence is tripled thanks to laser surface patterning. Fracture propagation is stopped nearby laser-induced holes due to the complex shape and has to deviate inside the coating to maintain crack propagation (inter-splat cracks). The energy at the interfaces being stored locally due to pattern: pattern morphology, pattern localization and powder feed rate are important factors that control the adhesion strength of the thermally sprayed coatings