Thermal spraying in India : Status and prospects

• Notwithstanding the fact that the thermal spray technologies have globally proliferated into virtually all major industry segments, the acceptance of these processes by the Indian industry had been historically sluggish. However, the scenario in the country with respect to the thermal spray technologies is rapidly changing. A meaningful indicator of the obvious growth of thermal spraying is the spurt in the number of job shops, equipped with the latest thermal spray variants and sophisticated job-handling capabilities, that can now offer coating service. The number of captive units meeting in-house coating needs has also increased markedly in recent years. The non-availability of indigenous sources for thermal spray equipment as well as feedstock materials had been one of the key factors hampering growth of the thermal spray industry in India. The increasing adoption of thermal spraying by the Indian industry has been spurred by the fact that home-grown Indian companies are manufacturing spray systems, handling equipment and performance evaluation test rigs that are already being exported to foreign countries. Research on frontier areas like Cold Gas Dynamic Spraying and Solution Precursor Plasma Spraying is also active in the country. The above factors, along with the healthy growth trends observed recently, suggest a very bright future for thermal spray technologies in India. This paper provides an overview of the country status, charting the growth of thermal spray coatings in India in recent times. Copyright © 2009 ASM International® All rights reserved.

Keyword

Coating service; Cold gas dynamic spraying; Feedstock materials; Foreign countries; Growth trends; Handling capability; Job shop; Key factors; Performance evaluation; Solution precursor; Spray systems; Status and prospect; Thermal spray; Thermal spray coatings; Thermal spray technology

Growth (materials); Plasma spraying; Protective coatings

Thermal spraying

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