Business from technology

Thermal spraying

Competence

VTT has strong expertise in developing thermally sprayed coatings. It specializes in the development of dense, high-performance coatings against harsh environments. VTT’s key knowledge includes:

1. Powder development to introduce novel material solutions by using nano-technology, special alloying and special compositions

2. Thermal spray-process optimization via process mapping methodology, which allows systematic and detailed understanding   of the relation between the manufacturing process and the coating properties

3. Coating characterization and testing coating performance under conditions simulating industrial conditions

VTT’s expertise in coating development includes material design, powder processing, structure optimization, property characterization and performance evaluation.

Challenges

The need for improved material performance has increased in many applications. The unique lamellar and rapidly quenched structure of the thermally sprayed coating needs special expertise in coating design and development. VTT is willing to take on the challenges to:

• Develop unique coating solutions to meet special component requirements
  
• Control the residual stresses in the coating
  
• Optimize performance/cost for the required thermally sprayed coating
  

Solutions

The processing characteristics of thermal spraying give great freedom for material tailoring and design. The material selection for spraying is flexible, including ceramics, metallics, plastics, composite structures, non-equilibrium alloys, etc. From this perspective, the aim is to create new opportunities for its customers by developing new solutions for their components using sophisticated material design and process optimization tools. VTT’s expertise makes it possible to provide service to companies with the aim of developing integrated coating solutions tailored to customer needs.