The thermal spray technique involves coating processes that can use ceramic, polymers, metallic materials or a blend of these. The material to be deposited is melted totally or partially, where the heated particles are accelerated and projected toward a prepared surface forming layers with a lamellar structure. The effect of the spray process parameters such as, combustion pressure, feed rate and carrier gas, on the wear resistance and friction of PET films was evaluated. The PET coatings were characterized by measuring the wear coefficient through the calowear type testing and the friction coefficients using pin-on-disk testing. The values of the abrasive wear coefficient and the friction coefficient of the coatings were compared to the values of the bottle PET reference sample. The wear coefficient values were similar to the values for the PET bottles, in the range of 10-5. The statistical analyses of the results indicate that the interaction effects of the three variables, gas pressure, feeding rate and carrier gas were significant for the wear coefficient but not for the friction coefficient.
Thermal spray; PET; tribology
