A Particle Temperature Sensor for Monitoring and Control of the Thermal Spray Process

The temperature and velocity of thermally sprayed particles prior to their impact on the substrate are two of the predominant determinants of coating quality and characteristics. This paper describes an instrument developed for real time monitoring of in-flight particle temperature in an industrial environment. The instrument is designed to operate as a stand alone device for verifying that a desired particle temperature is attained or for developing process settings to yield a particular temperature. The device is also suitable for incorporation into a closed loop process controller. Data showing the relationship between torch parameters and average particle temperature are presented. There is good agreement between previous measurements using laboratory instrumentation and the simpler, industrially hardened technique described here. The assumption of gray body behavior is evaluated and for known emissivities corrections are developed.