Plasma-electrolytic oxidation of thermally sprayed aluminium coatings for high-temperature wear applications under particle-loaded hot-gas jets

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Thomas Lampke
• Subject Area: Coating and Surface Technology ; Mechanical Properties of Metallic Materials and their Microstructural Origins
• Term: from 2014 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 265717247

Ceramic coatings, especially of aluminium oxide, are applied to increase resistance against wear and corrosion and for thermal insulation of metallic surfaces. Plasma-electrolytic oxidation (PEO) of thermally sprayed aluminium coatings is an innovative production method by which even steel and polymeric substrates can be coated with highly abrasive wear-resistant PEO coatings. Al coatings incompletely converted to Al2O3 are strongly limited with regard to the operation temperature. The relatively brittle ceramic coatings only show a very low resistance against particle jet erosion at high impact angles. This research project aims to make thermally sprayed and plasma-electrolytically treated aluminium coatings accessible to new fields of application such as smelting industry and powertrain production. A significant decrease in brittleness of the PEO coatings by incorporating ductile elements like copper or nickel into the aluminium layer and thus into the PEO coating will be focussed on in order to achieve considerably increased resistance against particle jet erosion at high impact angles. Higher operation temperatures of the ceramic composite coatings are intended by applying heat-resistant materials like titanium.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants