Synthesis, spheroidization and spray deposition of lanthanum zirconate using thermal plasma process

During the last decade, research efforts were devoted to the development and manufacturing of ceramic thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) on turbine parts because the traditional turbine materials have reached the limits of their temperature capabilities. TBCs have been widely used in hot-section metal components in gas turbines either to increase the inlet temperature with a consequent improvement of the efficiency or to reduce the requirements of the cooling air. There are several ceramics that have been evaluated as TBC materials, and lanthanum zirconate (LZ) is one of the most promising among them. The properties namely high-melting point, phase stability up to its melting point, low thermal conductivity, low sintering ability and oxygen-non transparent make the LZ a potential TBC material for high-temperature applications. However, the production methods used to synthesise LZ are highly time consuming and the powder is not commercially available. Hence, in this investigation an attempt was made to synthesise, spheroidize and spray deposit LZ material using thermal plasma process. This paper illustrates the effectiveness of thermal plasma as a major materials processing technique. Suitable characterization techniques have been used to study the material modifications after respective plasma processing exposures. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.