Plasma spraying of rare-earth oxide stabilized zirconia

• Main Author: Yang, Jian
• Other Authors: Khor, Khiam Aik
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Materials::Plasma treatment
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/19979
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The stabilization of the phases in zirconia alloys is pivotal in their applications as advanced structural ceramics. Stress-induced transformation toughening depends on the characteristics of the metastable tetragonal zirconia phase. Rare earth oxides are known to stabilize the cubic and tetragonal phases. This thesis presents the preparation of erbia-, samaria- and neodymia-stabilized zirconia coatings by plasma spraying. The amount of erbia, samaria and neodymia ranged from 2 mol% to 10 mol%. The feedstock is prepared by a combination of high energy ball milling and thermal plasma melt and solidification processes. This feedstock leads to improved flowability during plasma spraying and lower coating surface roughness that will boost fuel efficiency of gas turbine engines.