Potential of thermal sprayed technologies for maintenance and repair of conventional and nuclear power plants components

Abstract

The thermal spray technologies are versatile methods of deposition of thick coatings on the components surfaces. Based on spraying technology principle, various materials and coating thicknesses can be deposited. Some spraying technologies, as mobile systems, have the capability to be used directly on-site. Typically, the Twin Wire Arc Spraying systems (TWAS) are utilized to spray the large-scale constructions to protect them from corrosion. Also, one of the latest spraying technologies, Cold Spray, is nowadays being developed to serve as mobile system. Both technologies offer the possibility to spray coatings up to several millimeters thick, which makes them suitable for renovation of worn or corroded material in higher volumes. In the manuscript, the used methods and results achieved so far in the frame of National Center for Energy, are presented and compared with respect to the relationships between coatings microstructure, mechanical and functional properties. Both technologies proved its potential to deposit protective coatings, applied on conventional and nuclear power plants components.