In this work, a low-temperature melting composition located within the glass-forming region of the Y 2 O 3 -Al 2 O 3 -SiO 2 (YAS) system is proposed and tested as a protective coating for SiC ceramics. Glassy coatings 197 µm thick were obtained by flame spraying YAS granules on SiC substrates that had been grit blasted and coated with a Si bond layer. Bulk glasses of the same composition were also produced for use as a reference material. The hardness, elastic modulus, and thermal conductivity of the coatings and bulk specimens were evaluated and compared and the effect of heat treatment was investigated. Crystallization occurred in both the bulk glass and coating during isothermal treatments in air at 1100-1350 °C, but it did not compromise system integrity due to crack healing.

MCrAlY coatings deposited by LPPS or HVOF spraying are widely used on turbine blades and vanes to mitigate the effects of oxidation and corrosion. The service life of a MCrAlY layer is dependent on the loss of aluminum, which is consumed by oxidation on the surface and by diffusion into the substrate. After long term heat treatments in air, LPPS and HVOF CoNiCrAlY coatings on IN738 and Hastelloy X substrates were examined and their interdiffusion and Al depletion layers were characterized based on the distribution of phase constituents, the amount of residual Al content, and average layer thickness. The results of the study show that differences in coating behavior with respect to Al consumption are mainly due to the oxidation of yttrium in the CoNiCrAlY powder during HVOF spraying.

This paper describes the development and verification of a thermal barrier coating (TBC) for use in class 1600 °C turbines. It explains how ceramic materials with different crystal structures were selected for the topcoat and how they were screened based on phase transformations. It discusses the method used determine a bond coat composition with high oxidation resistance and good ductility. It describes the TBC deposition process, the tuning of spray parameters, and the optimization of coating properties. It discusses the tests used to evaluate the topcoat, bond coat, and thermally grown oxide (TGO) layer and presents the results of 10,000 h of field testing in a power plant.

In this study, 8YSZ and 24CeYSZ coatings were deposited on stainless steel by suspension plasma spraying. The suspensions were formulated using finely milled powder, water, and ethanol. Spraying parameters were modified by changing spray distance and torch scan speed and were the same for each material. Coating microstructure, phase composition, and porosity were assessed and thermal diffusivity was measured and used to calculate thermal conductivity.

In this study, YSZ coatings are deposited by plasma spray-physical vapor deposition using a shroud to limit expansion of the plasma jet and increase its heating ability. Optical emission spectroscopy shows that the shroud significantly increases the evaporation of YSZ particles in the jet, resulting in coatings with a hybrid columnar structure. SEM examination of coating surfaces and cross-sections reveal micro and nanoscale features and, in each case, the mechanisms of formation are discussed.

Thermal barrier coatings typically incorporate a YSZ topcoat and a metallic bond coat. During service, a reaction zone consisting of different thermally grown oxides forms at the interface. Although most such oxides are detrimental, one (α-Al 2 O 3 ) improves service life due to its barrier effect on oxygen diffusion. In this study, Al and AlOx films are deposited on metallic bond coats by dc magnetron sputtering prior to topcoat deposition. The resulting TBCs were thermally cycled to determine the effect of the interlayer films on service life and TGO formation. It is shown that the Al films transform in situ into dense Al 2 O 3 layers that act as oxygen diffusion barriers. TBCs with interlayer alumina, whether deposited directly or formed in situ, showed less cracking and were more mechanically stable during thermal cycle tests.

In this study, the effects of bond coat compositions with and without 0.5 mass.% Y on oxidation behaviour were investigated. Oxidation behaviour was accessed in terms of The TGO structure and growth kinetics. After isothermal oxidation tests, the TGO formed on Y-free CoNiCrAl coatings was composed mainly of alumina without the presence of Y-rich oxide and showed lower growth kinetics than that formed on conventional CoNiCrAlY coating. This result indicates that potential improvements to the bond coat oxidation behaviour can be achieved using Y-free bond coat compositions.

Lanthanum zirconate (La 2 Zr 2 O 7 ) was proposed as a promising material for thermal barrier coatings. At atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) of La 2 Zr 2 O 7 a considerable amount of La 2 O 3 can evaporate in the plasma flame, resulting in a non-stoichiometric coating. As indicated in the phase diagram of the La 2 O 3 -ZrO 2 system, in the composition range of pyrochlore structure, the stoichiometric La 2 Zr 2 O 7 has the highest melting point and other compositions are eutectic. APS experiments were performed with a TriplexPro-200 plasma torch at different power levels to achieve different degrees of evaporation and thus stoichiometry. For comparison, some investigations on Gd 2 Zr 2 O 7 were included which is less prone to evaporation and formation of non-stoichiometry. Particle temperature distributions were measured by the DPV-2000 diagnostic system. In these distributions, characteristic peaks were detected at specific torch input powers indicating evaporation and solidification processes. Based on this, process parameters can be defined to provide stoichiometric coatings intended to show good thermal cycling performance.

Thermal barrier coatings (TBC) are normally based on yttria partially stabilised zirconia (YPSZ) coatings and are commonly used coatings in the high temperature, combustion region of gas turbines. TBC permit to increase the temperature of combustion, increasing the thermodynamic efficiency of the engine. Therefore, an engine equipped with TBC can produce a larger amount of energy over its lifetime. This increase in produced energy can be compared with the energy needed for the manufacturing and installation of TBC. The comparison can be performed in terms of the “energy return” (or “energy returned for energy invested”, EROI or EROEI). The qualitative analysis performed in the present study indicates that this return is large in comparison to that of other energy producing systems.

Rare-earth zirconates with a pyrochlore structure have attracted great attention for potential application in thermal barrier coatings to further improve the performance and durability of gas turbines. In present work, the Sm 2 Zr 2 O 7 coating was deposited by air plasma spraying technology, and its microstructure and phase composition were examined. The as-sprayed Sm 2 Zr 2 O 7 coating exhibited anion-disordered while cation-ordered fluorite-type structure. Degree of ordering was considerable enhanced after high temperature aging, and transformed to ordered pyrochlore-type structure after thermal aging at temperatures above 1200 ºC. The typical lamellar structure for the as-sprayed Sm 2 Zr 2 O 7 coating gradually decreased with increasing thermal aging temperature, which was caused by microcrack healing at high temperatures.

The global economic growth has triggered a dramatic increase in the demand for resources over the last few years, resulting in steady price increases for energy and raw materials. In the gas turbine manufacturing sector, process optimizations of cost-intensive production steps involve a heightened savings potential and form the basis for securing future competitive advantages in the market economy. In this context, the atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) process for thermal barrier coatings (TBC) has been optimized. A constraint for the APS coating process optimization is the use of the existing coating equipment. Furthermore, the current coating quality and characteristics are not allowed to change in order to avoid new qualification and testing. Using experience in atmospheric plasma spraying and empirically gained data, the process optimization plan included the variation of e.g. the plasma gas composition and flow rate, the electrical power, the arrangement and angle of the powder injectors to the plasma jet, the grain size distribution of the spray powder and the plasma torch movement procedure like spray distance, offset and iteration. In particular, plasma properties (enthalpy, velocity, temperature), powder injection conditions (injection point, injection speed, grain size distribution,) as well as the coating lamination (coating pattern, spraying distance) are examined. The optimized process and resulting coating was compared to the current situation by several diagnostics methods. The improved process provides significantly lower costs by achieving the requirement of comparable coating quality. Furthermore, a contribution was made to a better comprehension of the atmospheric plasma spraying of ceramics and a method for future process developments was defined.

This research aims to investigate the effects of employing cryo-milled and milled MCrAlY feedstock powders on the oxidation behaviour of low-pressure plasma sprayed (LPPS) and HVOF-sprayed coatings deposited onto a Ni-based superalloy substrate. Commercially-available powders with three different chemical compositions were selected and sprayed both in standard condition and after milling and cryo-milling processes. The LPPS and HVOF coatings, deposited onto an Inconel substrate, were diffusion-treated at 1080 °C (according to the industrial standard) and subjected to isothermal and cyclic oxidation tests. The outcomes of these tests show that transient oxidation is suppressed in the coatings obtained from milled MCrAlY systems, whose overall resistance to cyclic oxidation (number of cycles to failure) is approximately two times greater than that of standard coatings. This difference is not related to the nanostructural features induced on the powder particles by the milling process, because, after the diffusion treatment, all coatings exhibit identical γ-β two-phase microstructure, with no trace of the original nanostructure. The improvement is ascribed to the fine dispersion of nanometric Al 2 O 3 grains within the milled powder particles: in the sprayed coatings, these nanometric oxides act as nuclei and favour the direct formation of an Al 2 O 3 oxide scale.

Gadolinium zirconate (Gd 2 Zr 2 O 7 , GZ) as one of the promising thermal barrier coating materials for high-temperature application in gas turbine was toughened by nanostructured 3mol% yttria partially-stabilized zirconia (3YSZ) incorporation. The fracture toughness of the composite of 90mol%GZ-10mol% 3YSZ (GZ-YSZ) was increased by about 60% relative to the monolithic GZ. Both the GZ and GZ-YSZ composite coatings were deposited by atmospheric plasma spraying on Ni-base superalloys and then thermal-shock tested under the same conditions. The thermal-shock resistance of GZ-YSZ composite coating was improved significantly, which is believed to be mainly attributed to the enhancement of fracture toughness by the addition of nanostructured 3YSZ. In addition, the failure mechanisms of the thermal-shock tested GZ and GZ-YSZ composite coatings were also discussed.