Patent ID: 8343591

Claim:
A method for use with a coating process, comprising: heating particles of a ceramic material in a water-cooled tray within a coating chamber by scanning electron beams from an electron beam source over the particles of the ceramic material and not over an ingot of a source coating material such that the particles of ceramic material radiantly heat a substrate having a bond coat that includes aluminum, to an oxidation temperature to form an alumina layer from the bond coat on the sustrate; controlling the heating by establishing a nominal oxygen gas flow rate through the coating chamber of about 100-600 standard cubic centimeters per minute to attenuate the electron beams emitted from the electron beam source to establish a desired evaporation rate of the particles of ceramic material; after forming the alumina layer, reducing the nominal oxygen gas flow rate and then depositing a ceramic coating on the alumina layer within the coating chamber by evaporating the ingot of a source coating material.