Thermal spray: Current status and future trends

Thermal spray is a continuous, directed, melt-spray process in which particles of virtually any material are melted and accelerated to high velocities, through either combustion flame of a dc or rf nontransferred thermal-plasma arc. The thermal spray technology, its materials science attributes, and some applications are reviewed. The automotive applications represent a major growth opportunity for thermal spray in the new millennium and are addressed in reasonable detail. New opportunities in the synthesis of functional multilayers and novel processing attributes are also reviewed.