Thermal Spray, Hardfacing & Wear Coatings worked example

Powder Consumption at 61% deposit efficiency: a worked example

Suppose deposit efficiency falls to 61%. This page works the full calculation at that level so you can see exactly which result moves and by how much. Powder consumption tells a thermal spray shop how much feedstock it must actually load into the hopper to build a coating on a given surface area, after accounting for the powder that never lands on the part.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Total surface area to coat: 500 units (held at the documented default)
  • Powder needed per unit area (as-deposited): 0.08 units (held at the documented default)
  • Deposit (transfer) efficiency: 61 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 85)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Required powder consumption = covered amount × use per unit ÷ transfer efficiency.
  • Required quantity works out to 65.57 units at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Theoretical amount works out to 40 units at these inputs.
  • Loss allowance works out to 25.57 units at these inputs.
  • Efficiency works out to 61 % at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where deposit efficiency sits at 85% and the headline result is 47.06 units, this scenario comes in 39.34% above the baseline at 65.57 units.
  • It computes the total powder mass you must feed to deposit a coating over a defined area, then breaks out the theoretical on-part amount and the overspray loss allowance. When the numbers land here, the stressed input is the lever to work; the walkthrough above shows exactly how much each output recovers as it climbs back toward the baseline.

Results at a glance

  • Required quantity: 65.57 units (headline result)
  • Theoretical amount: 40 units
  • Loss allowance: 25.57 units
  • Efficiency: 61 %

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Powder Consumption calculator, set deposit efficiency to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.