Residual stress distribution along interfaces in thermal barrier coating system under thermal cycles

The residual interfacial stress plays an important role in crack initiating and propagating along the interface, which could result in delamination failure of the thermal barrier coatings (TBCs). In this study, the finite element model of air plasma spraying(APS) TBCs was established to assess the level and distribution of residual stress along top coat(TC)/thermally grown oxide (TGO) and bond coat (BC)/TGO interfaces under thermal cycles. Instead of using vertical stress S₂₂ in global coordinate system, the normal and tangential components in the local system along the interfaces, transformed from stress components S₁₁, S₂₂, and S₁₂ in the global one, were used to evaluate the way the cracks initiate and propagate along the interfaces. Firstly, the effect of the number of thermal cycles on residual stress was investigated. It was found that, for the TBCs model without TGO growth and crack, the impact of the number of thermal cycles on the stress is very insignificant and could be ignored. So the present study only chose to focus on the first thermal cycle. Then the influence of the TGO thickness and the interface amplitude on the normal and tangential residual stresses for both homogeneous and inhomogeneous temperature fields was explored. The results show that the TGO thickness, interface amplitude and temperature field affect the residual stress level and distribution, leading to different fracture mechanisms along TC/TGO and TGO/BC interfaces. Finally, the difference between the vertical stress in the global coordinate system and the normal stress in the local coordinate system was studied. Compared with vertical stress S₂₂, the stress components normal and tangential to the TC/TGO and TGO/BC interfaces are more appropriate to describing the stress distribution along the interfaces and predicting the propensity of crack initiating and propagating along the interfaces.     

Effect of material properties on residual stress distribution in thermal barrier coatings

Residual stress has a significant influence on the crack nucleation and propagation in thermal barrier coatings (TBC) system. In this work, the residual stress in the air plasma spraying (APS) TBC system during cooling process was numerically studied, and the influence of the material properties of each layer on the residual stress was investigated. The morphologies of the interface were described by a piecewise cosine function, and the amplitude for each segment gradually increases. The elasticity, plasticity and creep of top coat (TC), thermally grown oxide (TGO) layer and bond coat (BC) were considered and the elasticity and creep of the substrate layer were taken into account. The material properties of all layers vary with temperature. The results show that the material properties have complex influence on the residual stress during cooling. The effect of the material properties of TC and BC on the residual stress at the interface is relatively large, and that of TGO and substrate is relatively small. These results provide important insight into the failure mechanism of air plasma spraying thermal barrier coatings, and important guidance for the optimization of thermal barrier coating interfaces.     

Comparative study on thermal shock behavior of thick thermal barrier coatings fabricated with nano-based YSZ suspension and agglomerated particles

Two kinds of segmentation-crack structured YSZ thick thermal barrier coatings (TTBCs) were deposited by suspension plasma spraying (SPS) and atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) with nano-based suspension and agglomerated particles, respectively. The phase composition, microstructure evolution and failure behavior of both TBCs before and after thermal shock tests were systematically investigated. Microstructure of the APS coating exhibits typical segmentation-crack structure in the through-thickness direction, similar with the SPS coating. The densities of segmentation-crack in APS and SPS coatings were about 3 cracks mm⁻¹ and 4 cracks mm⁻¹_, respectively. The microstructure observation also showed that the columnar and equiaxed grains existed in the SPS coating. As for the thermal shock test, the spallation life of the APS TTBCs was 146 cycles, close to that of the SPS TTBCs (166 cycles). Failure of the APS coating is due to the spallation of fringe segments and splats.     

Effects of TGO growth on the stress distribution and evolution of three-dimensional cylindrical thermal barrier coatings based on finite element simulations

Based on the ultrasonic C-scan results of 8YSZ coatings after thermal cycles, three-dimensional cylindrical numerical simulations of the physical geometry model of the thermal barrier coating (TBC) sinusoidal surfaces were conducted with finite elements to estimate the stress distribution and evolution law of the top coat (TC)/bond coat (BC) interface, including the centre and edge of the specimen affected by the dynamic growth of the thermally grown oxide (TGO). The results show that when a layer of TGO is grown on the TC/BC interface, compressive stress is uniformly distributed on the TGO interface, and the stress value decreases as a function of the TGO layer thickness. When the thickness of the TGO exceeds a certain value, the compressive stress of all parts of the interface gradually changes to tensile stress; meanwhile, the edges of the model affected by the crest and trough effects of the wave are reflected in the radial and circumferential directions, especially along the axial direction, with alternating concentrated tensile and compressive stresses. TGO growth imposes a minor influence on the magnitude and distributions of the radial and circumferential stresses at the BC interface. The linear elasticity, creep, fatigue, and stress accumulation effects of each layer of TBCs in each thermal cycle were fully considered in this model. The model not only interprets the crest and trough effects of the TC/BC surface interface during the growth of TGO, but also interprets the effects of the core and edge of the cylindrical model, further revealing the reason for which the core and edge of the TBC will most likely form cracks.     

Transient thermal stress due to the penetration of calcium-magnesium-alumino-silicate in EB-PVD thermal barrier coating system

Electron beam-physical vapor deposited (EB-PVD) thermal barrier coating system (TBCs) are vulnerable to the degradations induced by the penetration of calcium- magnesium-alumino-silicate (CMAS). In this work, we conduct a numerical study to investigate the effect of CMAS penetration on the development of transient thermal stress in EB-PVD TBCs with the columnar microstructure. A two-dimensional periodical model is developed, taking into account the columnar microstructure of EB-PVD TBCs and the CMAS penetration. We found that the CMAS penetration would induce a field of high in-plane tensile stress in TC upon the rapid cooling, promoting the initiation of the vertical cracks from top surface toward to the bottom of TC. Meanwhile, the accumulation of out-of-plane tensile stress tends to occur at the side edges of EB-PVD columns near three main regions: closely beneath the top surface of TC, at the interface between CMAS penetrated and non-penetrated zone, and close to the TC/BC interface. Therefore, the horizontal cracks are likely to initiate from the side edges of EB-PVD columns at these three regions, which agrees well with experiments.     

Thermal‐cycle dependent residual stress within the crack‐susceptible zone in thermal barrier coating system

Nondestructive and accurate measurement of residual stress in ceramic coatings is challenging, but it is crucial to the assessment of coatings failure and life. In this study, for the first time, the thermal‐cycle dependent residual stress in an atmosphere plasma sprayed thermal barrier coating system has been nondestructively and accurately measured using photoluminescence piezo‐spectroscopy. Each thermal cycle consists of a 5‐minute heating held at 1150°C and a 3‐minute water quenching. The measurement was performed within a crack‐susceptible zone in the yttria‐stabilized‐zirconia (YSZ) top coat (TC) closely above the thermally grown oxide layer. A YSZ:Eu³⁺ sublayer was embedded in TC as a stress sensor. It was found that the initial residual stress was compressive, with a mean value of 240 MPa, which rapidly increased to 395 MPa after 5 thermal cycles (12.5% life) and then increased gradually to the peak of 473 MPa after 25 thermal cycles (62.5% life). After 30 thermal cycles (75% life), the mean stress dropped abruptly to 310 MPa and became highly heterogeneous, with gradual reduction toward final spallation. The heterogeneous stress distribution indicates that many microcracks nucleated at different locations and the spallation occurred due to the coalescence of the microcracks.     

Thermomechanical simulations of the transient coupled effect of thermal cycling and oxidation on residual stresses in thermal barrier coatings

Failures in thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are associated with the build-up of residual stresses that result from thermal cycling, growth strain, and stress relaxation associated with high temperatures. To address these highly coupled processes, three aspects were examined. The first was concerned with the effect of thermal cycling and thermal gradients on the resulting residual stress fields. The second with the dynamic growth of thermally grown oxide (TGO) layer using novel finite volume-finite element algorithms. In the third, we examined the effect of stress relaxation on the (TC/TGO) interface. We modelled these highly coupled processes using transient thermomechanical finite element simulations. The temperature profile and state of oxidation variation with time were imported as a predefined field and solved in ANSYS nonlinear platform. Our results revealed that stress relaxation of the TGO stresses at high temperatures leads to a reduction in the TC/TGO interfacial stresses. They also revealed that the use of the isotropic hardening rule limits the increase in plastic deformation of the bond coat (BC), while the use of kinematic hardening rule leads to ratcheting. Furthermore, we highlighted the importance of considering uneven growth of TGO on the resulting stress field.     

Numerical study of residual stress and crack nucleation in thermal barrier coating system with plane model

The residual stresses could cause extensive damage to thermal barrier coatings and even failure. A finite element model of thermal barrier coating system had been designed to simulate the residual stresses and then to analyze the crack nucleation behavior. The distribution of normal and tangential stress components along top coat (TC) / thermally grown oxide (TGO) and TGO / bond coat (BC) interfaces are shown in this work. It is found that the maximum tensile stress along TC/TGO interface occurs in the peak region during heating-up, and that along TGO/BC interface is also located in the peak region, but during the process of cooling-down. A parameter correlating the normal stress component with corresponding tangential one was used to evaluate the interfacial cracks, indicating that cracks will initiate at the peak-off region of TC/TGO interface in the heating-up phase, but for TGO/BC interface, cracks will initiate at the peak position in the cooling-down phase.     

Thick thermal barrier coatings with different segmentation crack densities: Microstructure analysis and thermal oxidation behavior

Thick thermal barrier coatings (TTBCs) have been developed to increase the lifetime of hot section parts in gas turbines by increasing the thermal insulating function. The premeditated forming of segmentation cracks was found to be a valuable way for such an aim without adding a new layer. The TTBC introduced in the current study are coatings with nominal thickness ranging from 1 to 1.1 consisting of MCrAlY bond coat and 8YSZ top coat deposited by air plasma spray technique (APS). TTBCs with segmented crack densities of 0.65 mm^?1 (type-A) and 1 mm^?1 (type-B) were deposited on a superalloy substrate by adjusting the coating conditions. It was found that the substrate temperature has an influential role in creating the segmentation crack density. The crack density was found to increase with substrate temperature and liquid splat temperature. The two types of coatings (type-A and B) with different densities of segmentation crack were heat-treated at 1000 °C (up to 100 h) and 1100 °C (up to 500 h). The variation of hardness measured by indentation testing indicates a similar trend in both types of coatings after heat treatments at 1000 °C and 1100 °C. Weibull analysis of results demonstrates that higher preheating coating during the deposition results in a denser YSZ coating. The growth rate of TGO for TTBCs was evaluated for cyclic and isothermal oxidation routes at 1000 °C and 1100 °C. The TGO shows the parabolic trend for both two types of coatings. The Kps value for two oxidation types is between 5.84 × 10^?17 m²/s and 6.81 × 10^?17 m²/s. Besides, the type B coating endures a lifetime of more than 40 cycles at thermal cycling at 1000 °C.     

Effect of TGO thickness,pores, and creep on the developed residual stresses in thermal barrier coatings under cyclic loading using SEM image-based finite element model

Thermal barrier coatings (TBC) allow the metallic internal components of gas turbine engines to operate at elevated temperatures near its melting points. Formation of thermally grown oxide (TGO) layers at the top coat (TC) and bond coat (BC) interface induces cracks in the TC that may lead to complete TBC failure due to spallation. An SEM image-based finite element (FE) model is developed using commercial finite element package ABAQUS to investigate the development of residual stresses resulting from cyclic loading of TBCs. The model includes thermo-mechanical material properties and considers the real interface between the coating layers. The model includes real pores based on an SEM image, taking advantage of image processing techniques. Effect of TC surface roughness and pores on the developed residual stresses during thermal cycling is investigated with respect to different TGO thicknesses. The analysis shows that presence of TC roughness causes stress concentration sites during heating that may force horizontal cracks to initiate and propagate with stress values that are indifferent to the TGO thickness. The pores are found to shift stress concentration regions from the TC/TGO interface to the vicinity of the pores during cooling, and that may cause horizontal cracks to start from within the TC with stresses that increase with TGO thickness. Moreover, the effect of creep for all layers on the generated residual stresses is studied. Considering creep gives lower stresses at the end of cooling, however, stress distribution remains the same with and without creep.     

Effect of five kinds of pores shape on thermal stress properties of thermal barrier coatings by finite element method

Thermal ablation is a very important technique to characterize the thermal properties of coating systems. On account of the concentration of thermal stress, thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) often break off from the substrate partly or completely during the thermal erosion. In this paper, the thermal erosion simulation of finite element geometric models based on the possible pore shapes were implemented, especially, the influence of pore shapes on the distribution of coating temperature, X component of stress, Y component of stress, XY-shear stress and von-Mises stress were focused on. The effects of the different porosity of square pore coatings on thermal insulation properties and thermal stresses were discussed in term of the simulation results. The simulation results indicate that different shape pores not only affect the thermal stress distribution above the contact area between the bond coating and top coating surface, but also affect the plastic deformation behavior of TBCs. The micromechanism was discussed in details in this study. The computed results verified that, the computational method can successfully predict thermal shear, crack initiation and normal failure mode of the studied TBCs. All the results are in good agreement with the corresponding experimental findings. The failure mechanism factors in this paper are of great importance to explain the failure micro-mechanism of TBCs.     

Influences of interface morphology and thermally grown oxide thickness on residual stress distribution in thermal barrier coating system

Calculation of residual stress with finite element method is a basic work in failure mechanism investigation in thermal barrier coating (TBC) system because the residual stress is main driving force for crack nucleation and propagation. In this work, a complicated cosine curve with gradually increasing amplitude was used to simulate interface morphologies between layers so as to study the residual stress behavior during the cooling process in air plasma spraying TBC system by finite element method. The substrate, thermally grown oxide (TGO) and top coat (TC) are considered to be elastic and bond coat (BC) elastic-perfectly plastic. The material properties are all temperature dependent. The stress result comparison between models with and without substrate shows the effect of substrate on the residual stress distribution around layers interfaces should not be ignored as the substrate influences the value of normal residual stress as well as the stress distribution along undulating interfaces. Then the model with substrate was used to study the residual stress evolution along interfaces during cooling down from the temperature of 1000 °C to room temperature. The influences of the thickness of TGO and the amplitude and wavelength of interface on the residual stress distributions near interfaces were considered. The results show that these influences are very complicated. Meanwhile, it's found that the hybrid roughness parameter containing information for height and spacing is more suitable to describe the interface complicacy. The results facilitate understanding the failure mechanism relevant to interface morphology and TGO thickness.     

Nondestructive measurements of residual stress in air plasma-sprayed thermal barrier coatings

Premature spallation of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) is a critical issue during the service of gas turbines, and nondestructive evaluation is crucial to address this problem. Herein, a novel approach that indicates delamination by measuring the residual stress evolution of thermally grown oxide (TGO) for air plasma spraying (APS) TBCs is proposed and verified via the combination of photoluminescence piezo-spectroscopy (PLPS) and X-ray computed tomography. A mineral-oil-impregnating approach and a cold-mount low-shrinkage epoxy-mounting approach are used to alleviate the signal attenuation by pores and microcracks in APS TBCs, improving the detectable PLPS signal and X-ray transmission for stress measurement and delamination characterization, respectively. We have nondestructively measured the TGO residual stress mapping in APS TBCs and its evolution with oxidation. Furthermore, the evolution of TGO morphology and critical microcracks are obtained by X-ray computed tomography. The synchronous evolution of TGO residual stress, TGO thickness, and critical microcracks as a function of oxidation time is obtained and correlated. The transition point, as experimentally identified, at which the TGO stress starts to drop, agrees well with the critical moment of microcrack coalescence. This directly verifies that the TBC delamination can be effectively indicated by residual stress evolution of TGO in APS TBCs.     

Effect of geometric parameter on thermal stress generation in fabrication process of double-ceramic-layers thermal barrier coating system

In this work, quenching stress generated during the deposition process and the Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) thermal mismatch stress produced during the cooling down process of Double-Ceramic-Layers Thermal Barrier Coating System (DCL-TBCs) have been intensively examined. The thickness ratio of Lanthanum Zirconate (LZ, La₂Zr₂O₇) coating to stabilized Zirconia (YSZ, ZrO₂-8%Y₂O₃) coating, have been theoretically analyzed. In addition, DCL-TBCs specimens with different thickness ratio of LZ to YSZ coatings were fabricated, to study the effect of this thickness ratio by specimen curvature and crack density analysis. Meanwhile, Finite Element Method (FEM) has been carried out to validate results obtained theoretically. The results reveal that by comparison to CTE thermal mismatch stress, quenching stress has remarkable effect on total thermal stress. By increasing thickness ratio of YSZ to LZ coatings, average thermal stress and crack densities in YSZ and LZ coatings increased. Nevertheless, the curvature ratio of DCL-TBCs specimen decreases.     

Local residual stress evolution of highly irregular thermally grown oxide layer in thermal barrier coatings

Local residual stress in thermally grown oxide (TGO) layers is the primary cause of failure of thermal barrier coating (TBC) systems, especially TBCs prepared by air plasma spray (APS) with a highly irregular TGO. Herein, the distribution of residual stress and the evolution of the irregular TGO layer in APS TBCs were investigated as a function of oxidation time. The stress was measured from cross-sectional micrographs and converted to the actual stress inside the coatings before sectioning. The TGO exhibited significant inhomogeneity at different locations. Stress conversion occurred across the TGO thickness; the layer near the yttria-stabilised zirconia (YSZ) component exhibited compressive stress, whereas that along the bond coat was under tensile stress. The evolution of the compressive stress is also discussed. These analyses may provide a better understanding of the mechanism of APS TBCs.     

Structure evolution,thermal properties and sintering resistance of promising thermal barrier coating material La2(Zr0.75Ce0.25)2O7

Rare-earth doped zirconates are promising candidate materials for high-performance thermal barrier coatings (TBCs). The phase and microstructure stability is an important issue for the materials that must be clarified, which is related to the long-term stable work of TBCs at high temperatures. In this work, La₂(Zr_0.75Ce_0.25)₂O₇ (LCZ) ceramic coatings prepared by atmospheric plasma spraying present a metastable fluorite phase, which can transform into stable pyrochlore under high-temperature annealing. The detailed structure evolution of the ceramic coatings is characterized systematically by SEM, XRD and Raman. The associated thermal properties of LCZ ceramics were also reported. Results show that LCZ ceramic has an ultralow thermal conductivity (0.65 W/m·K, 1200 °C), which is only 1/3 of that of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ). The thermal expansion coefficients of LCZ ceramic increase from 9.68 × 10^-6 K^-1 to 10.7 × 10^-6 K^-1 (300 - 1500 °C), which are relatively larger than those of La₂Zr₂O₇. Besides, Long-term sintering demonstrates that LCZ ceramic coating has preferable sintering resistance at 1500 °C, which is desirable for TBC applications.     

Characterization of stress in a thermal barrier coating during CMAS corrosion using Ce3+ photoluminescence spectroscopy

The stress caused by calcium–magnesium–alumino–silicate (CMAS) corrosion is a critical factor in thermal barrier failure of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs). For the service safety of TBCs, it is important to characterize the stress inside TBCs during CMAS corrosion using a nondestructive and accurate method. In this study, photoluminescence spectroscopy technology was applied to characterize the stress in TBCs during CMAS corrosion. First, TBC specimens containing yttrium–aluminum–garnet doped with trace Ce³⁺ ions (YAG:Ce³⁺)/yttrium oxide partially stabilized zirconia double-ceramic-layer were prepared by atmospheric plasma spraying. Then, CMAS corrosion experiments were performed using the TBC specimens, and a mechanical model was derived based on Ce³⁺ photoluminescence spectroscopy to investigate the stress in the TBCs. Finally, the microstructure, extent of CMAS corrosion and stress field in TBC specimens, was characterized. The results reveal that the penetration of CMAS leads to local stress concentration and a nonlinear stress distribution from the outside surface to the inside of the YAG:Ce³⁺ layer. In addition, an increase in corrosion time, temperature, and CMAS concentration can significantly influence the evolution of the stress field in TBCs.     

YAG:Ce3+ piezo-spectroscopy: A high-sensitive method used for stress characterization of thermal barrier coating

The internal residual stress of thermal barrier coating (TBC) induced during the preparation and service process is the kernel cause of internal and interfacial failure and even the structure damage and destruction. Therefore, the accurate characterization of the internal stress is of great significance for TBC property and life evaluation. Fluorescence piezo-spectroscopic technology has been used to realize the nondestructive measurement of the TBC internal stress. However, the sensitivity of the existing Eu³⁺/Cr³⁺ fluorescence, namely, the piezo-spectroscopic coefficient, is normally <10 cm⁻¹/GPa. There is still an urgent need to develop a sensitive method or material of piezo-spectroscopy for the precision measurement of the TBC internal stress. This paper used Ce³⁺ as a sensing medium to detect stress. YAG:Ce³⁺ was applied as the top-coating material of TBC. Then, calibration experiments of the piezo-spectroscopic coefficient were carried out. The results demonstrated that the obtained Ce³⁺ piezo-spectroscopic coefficient can be up to 4.48 cm⁻¹/MPa, almost three magnitudes larger than other existing fluorescence piezo-spectroscopic technologies.     

Construction of three-dimensional dynamic growth TGO (thermally grown oxide) model and stress simulation of 8YSZ thermal barrier coating

A three-dimensional cylindrical numerical simulation physical and geometric model of TBCs sinusoidal surface was established based on the ultrasonic C-scan results of 8YSZ coating after thermal cycling. The stress distribution and evolution law of the TGO/BC interface and sample center and edge affected by TGO growth were simulated by the finite-element method. The results show that the stress at the TGO/BC interfaces changes from compressive stress to tensile stress with the increase of the number of thermal cycles. The center of the interface is distributed with large radial, circumferential and axial tensile stresses, while the edge of the sample is affected by thermal mismatch, which shows that shear stresses are alternately distributed in the XZ direction. The tensile stress at the center and the shear stress at the edge are the main reasons for the failure of the core and edge flakes of the thermal barrier coating. The linear elasticity, creep effect, fatigue effect and stress accumulation effect of each layer of TBCs in each thermal cycle period are fully considered by the model, which reveals the reason why the core and edges of the thermal barrier coating are most likely to form cracks.     

Cr(III) removal from simulated solution using hydrous magnesium oxide coated fly ash: Optimization by response surface methodology (RSM)

Hydrous magnesium oxide coated fly ash (MFA) has environmental remediation potential by providing a substrate for the adsorption of aqueous Cr(Ⅲ). Aqueous Cr(Ⅲ) adsorption onto MFA was examined as a function of MFA dosage, pH and initial Cr(Ⅲ) concentration with the Box-Behnken approach used for experimental design and optimization using response surface methodology (RSM). pH and dosage (dosage and concentration) have significant interactive effects on Cr(Ⅲ) adsorption efficiency. Analysis of variance shows that the response surface quadratic model is highly significant and can effectively predict the experimental outcomes. Cr(Ⅲ) removal efficiency of 98% was obtained using optimized conditions of MFA dosage, pH and initial Cr(Ⅲ) concentration of 1.57 g·L^-1, 4.11 and 126 mg·L^-1, respectively. Cr(Ⅲ) adsorption onto MFA is mainly attributed to the interaction between Cr(Ⅲ) and the functional group -OH of the hydrous magnesium oxide, in all probability caused by chemisorptions. The results of this study can conduce to reveal the interactions between Cr(Ⅲ) pollutant and MFA characteristics, posing important implications for the cost-effective alternative adsorption technology in the treatment of heavy metal containing wastewater.