Analytical and mechanical testing of high velocity oxy-fuel thermal sprayed and plasma sprayed calcium phosphate...

Plasma spraying (PS) is the most frequently used coating technique for implants; however, in other industries a cheaper, more efficient process, high-velocity oxy-fuel thermal spraying (HVOF), is in use. This process provides higher purity, denser, more adherent coatings than plasma spraying. The primary objective of this work was to determine if the use of HVOF could improve the mechanical properties of calcium phosphate coatings. Previous studies have shown that HVOF calcium phosphate coatings are more crystalline than plasma sprayed coatings. In addition, because the coatings are exposed to more complex loading profiles in vivo than standard ASTM tensile tests provide, a secondary objective of this study was to determine the applicability of four-point bend testing for these coatings. Coatings produced by HVOF and PS were analyzed by profilometry, diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, four-point bend, and ASTM C633 tensile testing. HVOF coatings were found to have lower amorphous calcium phosphate content, higher roughness values, and lower ASTM C633 bond strengths than PS coatings; however, both coatings had similar crystal unit cell sizes, phases present (including hydroxyapatite, beta-tricalcium phosphate, and tetracalcium phosphate), and four-point bend bond strengths. Thus, the chemical, structural, and mechanical results of this study, in general, indicate that the use of HVOF to produce calcium phosphate coatings is equivalent to those produced by plasma spraying.