Artificial neural networks applied to plasma spray manufacturing

Thermal spray is a general term for a group of coating processes that are used to apply metal or non-metallic coatings to protect a functional surface or to improve its performance. The atmospheric plasma spray is a highly variable and versatile thermal spray process in terms of the input and output relationships. The artificial neural network based models can be incorporated to an on-line plasma spray control system to allow the automated system achieve the desired process stability and assist thermal spray engineers in reducing time and the complexities related to the pre-spray tuning and parameter setting.