An artistic approach to thermal spray

“Art is everywhere” to quote Ben, a renowned French contemporary artist. However, there are some areas in which art is more prevalent. Thermal spray is one of them, as this presentation seeks to demonstrate. For this, each of the arts (according to their official classification) is shown to correspond to a specific key point of the thermal spray process for coating: e.g., coating build-up, additive manufacturing, deposition onto brittle and/or temperature sensitive materials (glass, wood, fabrics, polymers), powder optimization, and adhesion. Both modeling and experimental aspects are discussed, focusing on the study of particle-to-particle or particle-to-substrate interfaces, shock phenomena and advanced investigation techniques such as X-ray microtomography or high-speed instrumentation. Plasma spray and cold spray provide the relevant examples that this contribution elaborates. They relate to different industrial sectors such as aircraft-aerospace, luxury, biomedical and the automotive industry. Beyond anecdotal evidence, the discussion aims to show that an artistic approach to thermal spray does help to understand better this powerful coating process.