Detonation spraying produces coatings of very high chemical bond strength and hardness. Coatings are of low porosity, oxygen content and have a low to medium surface roughness. This is achieved due to the extremely high temperatures and velocities produced by the detonation gun during surface coating application. These properties make detonation spraying the standard of comparison for all other thermal spray coatings (wire arc, plasma, flame, HVAF, HVOF, Warm, Cold).
There are many factors that determine the final detonation gun coating properties. Primarily, surface properties are determined by the type and properties of the powdered feedstock used (composition and particle size) but they are also affected by the settings used on the D-gun. These are powder flow rate, firing rate, distance from gun to target, how the D-gun is moved around to apply the coating, size of barrel, amount and composition of fuel and oxygen mixture.
Detonation spraying is able to apply protective coatings to relatively sensitive and delicate materials. This is due to the nature of the application of detonation gun coatings, being very quick and having the heat source removed from the target material. This allows for a large range of suitable applications for detonation spraying.