PLASMA ARC WELDING CHAPTER7 331

travel speed and can minimize dilution. Hot-wire

plasma arc welding is normally used in the high-current
melt-in mode.

SURFACING
The plasma arc process can also be used for surfac-
ing operations. Surfacing is the application by welding,
brazing, or thermal spraying of a layer or layers of
material to a surface to obtain desired properties or
dimensions. Plasma arc spraying can be performed
either with a transferred arc or nontransferred arc.

PLASMA SPRAYING
Plasma spraying (PSP) is a thermal spraying process
in which a nontransferred arc is used to create an arc
plasma that melts and propels the surfacing material to
the substrate. A variation of this process is vacuum
plasma spraying (VPSP), in which the plasma spraying
gun is confined to an enclosure that is partially evacu-
ated. Plasma spraying is not a true welding process but
is similar to brazing or braze welding because adhesion
between the surfacing metal to the workpiece is
achieved through intermetallic bonding. The surfacing
material may be in wire or powder form.7

PLASMA TRANSFERRED ARC SURFACING

The plasma arc welding process is used in a surfacing
technique commonly called plasma transferred arc
(PTA) surfacing. The term PTA is not technically spe-
cific to a surfacing operation, but rather defines the
mode of the plasma arc. When surfacing material is
applied in powder form, users in the industry often
refer to the process as PTA. Using a plasma transferred
arc, the surfacing material is continuously introduced
by a mechanized powder feeder. It can also be added in
wire or rod form, but this is not common. Figure 7.22
shows an example of a surfacing operation being per-
formed on flat plate using a transferred plasma arc and
a surfacing alloy in powdered form.
Powdered metal has several advantages over solid
wire. Many alloys are used for surfacing to achieve
unique mechanical or chemical properties, such as resis-
tance to wear or corrosion. Unfortunately, many of
these alloys cannot be drawn into a wire or rod because
of these same unique mechanical properties. It is also
much easier and more economical to obtain specialized
formulas in powder form. However, the greatest benefit
7. American Welding Society (AWS) Committee on Definitions,
2001, Standard Welding Terms and Definition sand Symbols,
A3.0:2001, Miami: American Welding Society.
Photograph courtesy of Stellite Coatings
Figure 7.22-A Plasma Transferred
Arc Surfacing Operation Applying
a Powdered Metal Alloy
from the use of powdered surfacing material is that it
reduces dilution of the weld deposit.
In a surfacing operation using wire or rod, a rela-
tively large weld pool must be formed from the base
metal. The surfacing wire or rod is then inserted into
the weld pool as a solid, where it melts and becomes
liquid. When powdered metal is used, the material is
injected into the plasma stream after it leaves the con-
stricting nozzle and before it strikes the weld pool.
Compared to wire or rod, the same amount of material
in powder form covers a much greater surface area.
These two factors, greater surface coverage and injec-
tion into the plasma stream, combine so that nearly all
the powder is heated to a molten state when it strikes
the weld pool. This greatly reduces the size of the weld