Fabricating Refractory-Metal Solar-Engine Components by VPS

Vacuum plasma spraying (VPS) has been demonstrated to be an effective technique for the fabrication of refractory-metal components of solar-thermal engines. Heretofore, such components have been fabricated by specialized techniques that include electrical-discharge machining, shear spinning, sintering under pressure, chemical vapor deposition, and electrochemical machining. Though effective, these specialized techniques are time-consuming and costly. On the other hand, VPS makes it possible to fabricate components with complex shapes, simply and at relatively low cost.