Measurements of Heat Flux in an Atmosphere- and Temperature-Controlled Plasma Spray Process

The C.E.A. (the French Atomic Energy Agency) has developed the A.T.C. plasma spray process (Atmosphere-and Temperature-Controlled process): a classical inert plasma spraying system is coupled with a cryogenic cooling of the substrate by liquefied gas atomization. This process alternately supplies positive and negative heat fluxes to the substrate. In order to quantify these fluxes, and to better control the process, a heat flux measurement system has been developed: under industrial conditions, several multi-layer sensors measure the flux received by the substrate. This paper presents the diagnostic apparatus and the first results measured in A.T.C. plasma spraying conditions. These results were obtained in dynamic operating conditions.