Improvement in the performance of thermal barrier coating systems (TBCs) is one of the key objectives for further development of gas turbine applications. The material most commonly used as TBC topcoat is yttria stabilised zirconia (YSZ). However, the usage of YSZ is limited by the operating temperature range which in turn restricts the engine efficiency. Materials such as pyrochlores, perovskites, rare earth garnets, etc. are suitable candidates which could replace YSZ as they exhibit lower thermal conductivity and higher phase stability at elevated temperatures. The objective of this work was to investigate different multi-layered TBCs consisting of advanced topcoat materials fabricated by Suspension Plasma Spraying (SPS). The investigated topcoat materials were YSZ, dysprosia stabilised zirconia, gadolinium zirconiate, cerium doped YSZ and yttria fully stabilised zirconia. All topcoats were deposited with TriplexPro-210 plasma spray gun and radial injection of suspension. Lifetime of these samples was examined by thermal cyclic fatigue and thermal shock testing. Microstructure analysis of as-sprayed and failed specimens was performed with scanning electron microscope. The failure mechanisms in each case have been discussed in this article. The results show that SPS could be a promising route to produce multilayered TBCs for high temperature applications.

Development of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) manufactured by suspension plasma spraying (SPS) is of high commercial interest as SPS has been shown capable to produce columnar microstructures similar to the conventionally used electron beam – physical vapour deposition (EB-PVD) process. Moreover, SPS is a significantly cheaper process and can also produce more porous coatings than EB-PVD. However, lifetime of SPS coatings needs to be improved further for them to be applicable in commercial applications. The bondcoat microstructure as well as topcoat-bondcoat interface topography affect the TBC lifetime significantly. The objective of this work was to investigate the feasibility of different bondcoat deposition process for SPS TBCs. In this work, a NiCoCrAlY bondcoat deposited by high velocity air fuel (HVAF) was compared to commercial NiCoCrAlY and PtAl bondcoats. All bondcoat variations were prepared with and without grit blasting the bondcoat surface. SPS was used to deposit the topcoats on all samples using the same spray parameters. Lifetime of these samples was examined by thermal cyclic fatigue and thermal shock testing. The effect of bondcoat deposition process and interface topography on lifetime in each case has been discussed. The results show that HVAF could be a suitable process for bondcoat deposition in SPS TBCs.

Fundamental understanding of relationships between process parameters, particle in-flight characteristics and adhesion strength of HVOF sprayed coatings is important to achieve the high coating adhesion that is needed in aeronautic repair applications. In this study statistical Design of Experiments (DoE) was utilized to identify the most important process parameters that influence adhesion strength of IN718 coatings sprayed on IN718 substrates. Special attention was given to the parameters combustion ratio, total gas mass flow, spray distance and external cooling, since these parameters were assumed to have a significant influence on particle temperature and velocity. Relationships between these parameters and coating microstructure were evaluated to fundamentally understand the relationships between process parameters and adhesion strength.