Fractal analysis of thermally sprayed coatings

Functional performance of thermally sprayed coatings depends to a large degree on their surface topography. Surface topography of coatings was studied by analyzing numerically data sets aquired by contact profilometry. The effect of spraying method and powder composition was explored for a range of coatings. The effect of coating composition was studied for cermet coatings flame sprayed with mixtures of Ni-5%Al with ZrO2-30%CaO. To characterize the coating surface topography, multifractal analysis was performed. (© 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)