Plasma sprayed chromium oxide coatings have been widely used due to their high corrosion and wear resistance. Although plasma spray process is economical to produce coatings due to higher deposition rates, the coatings are inherently porous and lack metallurgical bonding with the substrate. The focus of this work is to investigate the feasibility as well as characterize the resulting properties of in-situ consolidated plasma sprayed chromium oxide with an excimer laser. The goal here is to improve the physical properties through re-melting, densification and possibly phase change. A DC plasma gun and a pulsed KrF excimer laser have been employed for coating fabrication. The structure, hardness, porosity, wear, and friction behavior of the treated coating have been characterized. The plasma/laser hybrid consolidation process is promising and can provide substantial improvement to the coating properties.
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