Near-Net-Shape and Dense Wear Resistant Thermally Sprayed Coatings

Deep drawing of high strength steels imposes high tribological requirements on forming tools. Thermal spraying is regarded as a promising technology to improve the tool’s performance and the service life of the forming tool, as long as ambitious demands of the coating process are matched. In order to qualify a thermal spraying process for a surface technology in deep drawing it is crucial that the coating obtains an extremely dense structure and a smooth, near-net-shape surface. The study presented considers two different approaches to achieve those goals. The application of fine-scaled powders (<10$m) spraying through HVOF technique offers the opportunity to deposit dense coatings with very smooth surfaces. In contrast, it is also feasible to achieve very smooth and dense coatings by combining conventional powders with a subsequently densification procedure