The Sensitivity of Abradable Coating Residual Stresses to Varying Material Properties

This paper reports recent research on abradable materials employed for aero-engine applications. Such thermal spray coatings are used extensively within the gas turbine, applied to the inner surface of compressor and turbine shroud sections, coating the periphery of the blade rotation path. The function of an abradable seal is to wear preferentially when rotating blades come into contact with it, while minimizing over-tip clearance and improving the efficiency of the engine. Thermal spraying of an abradable coating onto a substrate imparts two components of residual stress; rapid quenching stresses as the spray material cools on impact and stresses arising from differential thermal contraction. In-service thermal stresses are superimposed by the differential expansion of these bonded layers. The combination of the production and operation history will lead to thermal-mechanical fatigue damage within the abradable coating. The present paper will describe the numerical modeling and sensitivity analysis of the thermal spray process. The sensitivity of residual stresses (with varying material properties, coating/substrate thickness, Poisson’s ratio, and substrate temperature) predicted by the Tsui and Clyne progressive deposition model enabled identification of performance drivers to coating integrity. Selecting material properties that minimize in-service stresses is a crucial stage in advancing future abradable performance.     

Influences of Processing and Fatigue Cycling on Residual Stresses in a NiCrY-Coated Powder Metallurgy Disk Superalloy

Oxidation and corrosion can attack superalloy disk surfaces exposed to increasing operating temperatures in some turbine engine environments. Any potential protective coatings must also be resistant to harmful fatigue cracking during service. The objective of this study was to investigate how residual stresses evolve in one such coating. Fatigue specimens of a powder metallurgy-processed disk superalloy were coated with a NiCrY coating, shot peened, and then subjected to fatigue in air at room and high temperatures. The effects of this processing and fatigue cycling on axial residual stresses and other aspects of the coating were assessed. While shot peening did induce beneficial compressive residual stresses in the coating and substrate, these stresses relaxed in the coating with subsequent heating. Several cast alloys having compositions near the coating were subjected to thermal expansion and tensile stress relaxation tests to help explain this response of residual stresses in the coating. For the coated fatigue specimens, this response contributed to earlier cracking of the coating than for the uncoated surface during long intervals of cycling at 760 °C. Yet, substantial compressive residual stresses still remained in the substrate adjacent to the coating, which were sufficient to suppress fatigue cracking there. The coating continued to protect the substrate from hot corrosion pitting, even after fatigue cracks initiated in the coating.     

The effect of oxide coatings on fatigue properties of 7475-T6 aluminium alloy

The effect of hard anodic oxide and plasma electrolytic oxide coatings on the fatigue strength of 7475-T6 aluminium alloy has been investigated. The coated aluminium alloy was tested using constant load uniaxial tensile fatigue machine. Hard anodising led to an appreciable reduction in the fatigue strength of 7475-T6 alloy of about 75% for a 60 μm thick coating. Further, plasma electrolytic oxidation resulted in reduction of the fatigue strength of about 58% for a 65 μm thick oxide coating. The decrease in fatigue strength of the hard anodic oxide coatings was associated with the stress concentration at the microcracks in the coating. The better fatigue performance of the PEO coatings was attributed to the development of the compressive residual internal stress within the coatings. The reduction in the fatigue strength of the PEO coatings as compared to the uncoated material was associated with the development of the tensile residual internal stress within the substrate. This may cause an early crack initiation in the substrate adjacent to the coating.     

Microstructure and fatigue behavior of cold spray coated Al5052

The effect of cold spray coating in inducing residual stresses in the substrate and its effect on delaying crack initiation under cyclic loading have been studied on Al5052 alloy specimens. Different sets of Al5052 specimens have been coated with pure Al and Al7075 feedstock powder, using a low-pressure cold spray coating technique. Some sets of specimens were grit blasted (GB) before coating. The microstructural evolution of the substrate after coating and the fatigue behavior of the coated structure have been studied. In order to obtain the fatigue S–N diagram for each set, as-received and coated specimens with and without preceding GB treatment have been tested in a load-controlled condition. X-ray diffraction has been used to measure the residual stresses both in the deposited materials and the substrates. The results are discussed to highlight the effect of this emerging surface treatment on the characteristics of the treated material. Compressive residual stresses, which led to appreciable increase in the fatigue life, have been observed in all the coated sets. The results indicate that the fatigue strength was significantly improved up to 30% in the case of Al7075 coatings. The results show a strong dependency of the fatigue strength on the deposited material and the spray parameters.     

The effect of surface modification on fretting fatigue in Ti Alloy turbine components

Severe fretting damage has been observed on the pressure surfaces of fan and compressor blade dovetails/disks in an aerospace gas turbine engine. A study has been carried out to evaluate the effect of an ion implantation technique in combination with the presently used surface treatments, such as shot peening and coating, on the fretting fatigue life of titanium alloy gas turbine engine components. The results from fretting fatigue tests, residual stress measurements, and nanoindentation tests were used to quantitatively evaluate the effect of various surface treatments on the fretting fatigue life of the fan blade and disk materials. Results from microstructural characterization and analyses of elemental and phase distributions within the implanted region are used to understand the effect of ion implantation on the surface properties of the alloys. Finally, an attempt has been made to evaluate the potential for improving the fretting fatigue life of the engine components using various surface modification techniques.     

Residual stress development in cold sprayed Al,Cu and Ti coatings

Residual stresses play an important role in the formation and performance of thermal spray coatings. A curvature-based approach where the substrate–coating system deflection and temperature are monitored throughout the coating deposition process was used to determine residual stress formation during cold spray deposition of Al, Cu and Ti coatings. The effect of substrate material (carbon steel, stainless steel and aluminium) and substrate pre-treatment (normal grit blasting, grit blasting with the cold spray system and grinding for carbon steel substrate) were studied for all coating materials with optimized deposition parameters. Mainly compressive stresses were expected because of the nature of cold spraying, but also neutral as well as tensile stresses were formed for studied coatings. The magnitudes of the residual stresses were mainly dependent on the substrate/coating material combination, but the surface preparation was also found to have an effect on the final stress stage of the coating.     

Influence of the residual stress state of coatings on the wear behavior in external turning of AISI 4140 and Ti–6Al–4V

The residual stress state of coatings influences tool life and performance in machining significantly. Due to thermo-mechanical loads during the cutting process the coatings require tailored properties. Beside the coating structure the two most important properties are the residual stress state and the chemical composition of the coating. Therefore, the influence of these two properties is investigated in this study, comparing the cutting performance in continuous and interrupted cutting of 42CrMo4 (AISI 4140) and Ti–6Al–4V. It is shown that the residual stress states of the coating close to the surface and close to the substrate are important for the wear behavior. High compressive residual stresses near the substrate combined with a material-optimized composition increase the resistance against chipping. Flank wear resistance increases with high compressive residual stresses near the surface and decreasing stresses towards the substrate.     

Analysis of tool wear and residual stress of CVD diamond coated cemented carbide tools in the machining of aluminium silicon alloys

Aluminium alloys have found increasing applications in the automotive and aeronautical industries in recent years. Due to their extraordinary properties however, the machining of these alloys still poses difficulties, and requires the optimized combination of cutting tool material and geometry. The potential of CVD diamond coated carbide tools has been demonstrated in recent years, however tool wear and short tool life remain as issues to be resolved. Key to increasing the tool life of CVD diamond coated tools is the further development of the coating process to optimize the coating adhesion. An understanding of the substrate and coating residual stress profiles must be gained in order to achieve this. Compressive residual stresses in cutting tools can lead to a higher crack resistance, but also to early coating delamination and tool failure. To analyze the influence of residual stresses on the coating quality and tool life, the residual stress profiles of tungsten carbide substrates and CVD diamond coatings were measured using X-ray and synchrotron radiation. The influence of the tungsten carbide substrate type and the CVD diamond coating process on the residual stress profiles was thus determined. In order to analyze the performance of the coated tools and the influence of the residual stresses on the tool lifetime, machining tests were performed with two aluminium silicon alloys. The tool wear, tool lifetime and workpiece quality were examined. Finally, many of the commonly used wear tests used to analyze the wear resistance of tool coatings cannot be implemented for CVD diamond coatings due to their high hardness. An impact test was therefore constructed to allow the determination of the wear resistance of CVD diamond tools.     

Fatigue and corrosion fatigue behavior of an AA6063-T6 aluminum alloy coated with a WC-10Co-4Cr alloy deposited by HVOF thermal spraying

The present investigation has been conducted in order to study the fatigue and corrosion fatigue behavior of an AA6063-T6 aluminum alloy substrate coated with a WC-10Co-4Cr deposited by HVOF thermal spraying. It has been determined that the deposition of such a coating on the aluminum substrate gives rise to significant gains in fatigue life in comparison with the uncoated substrate, when testing is carried out both in air and in a 3 wt.% NaCl solution. It has been shown that during testing in air, the fatigue gain ranges between ~ 540 and 4300%, depending on the maximum alternating stress applied to the material. Larger fatigue gains are associated with low alternating stresses. Also, when fatigue testing is conducted in the NaCl solution, the gain in fatigue resistance varies between ~ 620 and 1460%. Fatigue cracks have been observed to initiate at the coating surface and then grow towards the substrate after propagating through the entire coating thickness. Crack growth along the coating has been observed to occur mainly along the regions formed by the agglomeration of W and W-Co-Cr-rich particles, flanking the tougher Co-Cr-rich areas. Although in the present work residual stresses were not measured, it is believed that the gain in fatigue life of the coating-substrate system is due to the presence of compressive residual stresses within the coating which hinder fatigue crack propagation. The deposition of the coating does not give rise to significant changes in the static mechanical properties and hardness of the aluminum alloy substrate. It has been observed that the WC-10Co-4Cr coating displays a significant indentation size effect and has a mean hardness of ~ 9.4 GPa.     

Adhesion improvements of Thermal Barrier Coatings with HVOF thermally sprayed bond coats

Thermal barrier coatings (TBC) are an effective engineering solution for the improvement of in service performance of gas turbines and diesel engine components. The quality and further performance of TBC, likewise all thermally sprayed coatings or any other kind of coating, is strongly dependent on the adhesion between the coating and the substrate as well as the adhesion (or cohesion) between the metallic bond coat and the ceramic top coat layer. The debonding of the ceramic layer or of the bond coat layer will lead to the collapse of the overall thermal barrier system. Though several possible problems can occur in coating application as residual stresses, local or net defects (like pores and cracks), one could say that a satisfactory adhesion is the first and intrinsic need for a good coating. The coating adhesion is also dependent on the pair substrate-coating materials, substrate cleaning and blasting, coating application process, coating application parameters and environmental conditions. In this work, the general characteristics and adhesion properties of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) having bond coats applied using High Velocity Oxygen Fuel (HVOF) thermal spraying and plasma sprayed ceramic top coats are studied. By using HVOF technique to apply the bond coats, high adherence and high corrosion resistance are expected. Furthermore, due to the characteristics of the spraying process, compressive stresses should be induced to the substrate. The compressive stresses are opposed to the tensile stresses that are typical of coatings applied by plasma spraying and eventually cause delamination of the coating in operational conditions. The evaluation of properties includes the studies of morphology, microstructure, microhardness and adhesive/cohesive resistance. From the obtained results it can be said that the main failure location is in the bond coat/ceramic interface corresponding to the lowest adhesion values.     

Mechanical Characteristics of Al-Co-Ce Coatings Produced by the Cold Spray Process

Gas atomized feedstock particles of an Al-13Co-26Ce alloy system were sprayed using the Cold Spray deposition technique. The microstructures of the coatings produced are examined and the mechanical characteristics, in particular the bending fatigue and the bond strength, of the Al-Co-Ce coatings are reported. The results show that the Al-Co-Ce coatings improved the fatigue behavior of AA 2024-T3 specimens when compared to uncoated and Alclad specimens. During the bond strength tests, the bonding agent failed and no delamination of the coating from the substrate occurred. The microstructural features of the feedstock powder were also found in the coatings. It is suggested that the increase in the fatigue properties of the specimens can be attributed to the residual compressive stresses induced in the coatings and to the high adhesion strength of the coatings to the substrates. This article is an invited paper selected from presentations at the 2007 International Thermal Spray Conference and has been expanded from the original presentation. It is simultaneously published in Global Coating Solutions, Proceedings of the 2007 International Thermal Spray Conference, Beijing, China, May 14-16, 2007, Basil R. Marple, Margaret M. Hyland, Yuk-Chiu Lau, Chang-Jiu Li, Rogerio S. Lima, and Ghislain Montavon, Ed., ASM International, Materials Park, OH, 2007.     

Coating residual stress effects on fatigue performance of 7050-T7451 aluminum alloy

The tendency of the aircraft industry is to enhance customer value by improving performance and reducing environmental impact. In view of availability, aluminum alloys have a historically tendency to faster insertion due to their lower manufacturing and operated production infrastructure. In landing gear components, wear and corrosion control of many components is accomplished by surface treatments of chrome electroplating on steel or anodizing of aluminum. One of the most interesting environmentally safer and cleaner alternatives for the replacement of hard chrome plating or anodizing is tungsten carbide thermal spray coating, applied by the high velocity oxy fuel (HVOF) process. However, it was observed that residual stresses originating from these coatings reduce the fatigue strength of a component.An effective process as shot peening treatment, considered to improve the fatigue strength, pushes the crack sources beneath the surface in most of medium and high cycle cases, due to the compressive residual stress field induced. The objective of this research is to evaluate a tungsten carbide cobalt (WC-Co) coating applied by the high velocity oxy fuel (HVOF) process, used to replace anodizing. Anodic films were grown on 7050-T7451 aluminum alloy by sulfuric acid anodizing, chromic acid anodizing and hard anodizing. The influence on axial fatigue strength of anodic films grown on the aluminum alloy surface is to degrade the stress-life performance of the base material. Three groups of specimens were prepared and tested in axial fatigue to obtain S-N curves: base material, base material coated by HVOF and base material shot peened and coated.Experimental results revealed increase in the fatigue strength of Al 7050-T7451 alloy associated with the WC 17% Co coating. On the other hand, a reduction in fatigue life occurred in the shot peened and coated condition. Scanning electron microscopy technique and optical microscopy were used to observe crack origin sites, thickness and coating/substrate adhesion.     

Influence of microarc oxidation and hard anodizing on plain fatigue and fretting fatigue behaviour of Al-Mg-Si alloy

The present study compares the performance of microarc oxidation (MAO) and hard anodizing (HA) treated Al-Mg-Si alloy (AA6063) test samples under cyclic loading in uniaxial tension with a stress ratio of 0.1 (plain fatigue) and fretting fatigue loading. Fatigue test specimens were treated using MAO and HA techniques. MAO coated specimens were ground to reduce the surface roughness comparable with that in HA coated specimens. In that process the porous outer layer was removed. Characterization of coated and uncoated specimens was done with reference to the coating morphology, microhardness, surface roughness and residual stress. The specimens were tested under plain fatigue and fretting fatigue loading at ambient temperature. While the ground MAO coating exhibited relatively less amount of porosity, HA coating had through thickness cracks. MAO coating had compressive residual stress and it was very hard compared with HA coating. Both types of coated samples exhibited slightly higher friction force than that experienced by the uncoated specimens. Fretted region of the HA coated samples was rougher than that of the MAO coated specimens. Plain fatigue lives of both coated samples were inferior to those of the uncoated specimens. The inferior plain fatigue lives of MAO coated specimens compared with those of the substrate may be attributed to the tensile residual stresses supposedly present in the substrate leading to an early crack initiation in the substrate adjacent to the coating. As friction force of MAO coated samples was higher than that experienced by uncoated specimens, the fretting fatigue lives of MAO coated samples were slightly inferior to those of uncoated samples. As the anodized layer had preexisting through thickness cracks and strong adhesion with the substrate, cracks propagated from HA coating through the interface into the substrate easily. This may be the reason for the HA coated samples exhibiting inferior plain fatigue and fretting fatigue lives compared with MAO coated and uncoated samples.     

Stress relaxation through thermal crack formation in CVD TiCN coatings grown on WC-Co with different Co contents

TiCN coatings were grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on WC-Co substrates with different Co contents, in order to control thermal stress. The driving force for the development of thermal stress is attributed to the difference between room and deposition temperature (ΔT ≈ −780 °C), and the mismatch of the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between substrate and coating. Co contents of 6, 7.5, 10, 12.5, and 15 wt% were utilized to adjust the CTE of the substrate, and therefore tune the stress in TiCN coatings. Dilatometry of the substrates and high temperature X-ray diffraction of a powdered TiCN coating indicate a decreasing CTE-mismatch for increasing substrate Co contents. In consequence, residual stress in TiCN determined by X-ray diffraction increases up to 662 ± 8 MPa with decreasing Co contents down to 10 wt%. For Co contents below 10 wt%, the residual stress decreases. The formation of thermal crack networks in TiCN, analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, coincides with 10 wt% Co. Stress relaxation in TiCN coatings through the formation of thermal cracks becomes evident. A finite element simulation utilized for the calculation of residual stress distributions reveals shielding effects, which occur with the introduction of thermal cracks. Discrepancies between experimental and simulated thermo-elastic stresses imply the presence of secondary relaxation sources. High temperature residual stresses in TiCN, determined up to 1000 °C (i.e. above deposition temperature), suggest additional thermal crack formation for substrate Co contents of 6 wt%.     

An approach to calculate fatigue properties of laser cladded components

Regarding the fatigue strength of laser cladded components only very few investigations exist today. This situation induced an investigation whose most important technical results are presented in this paper. The final goal of this work is to predict the optimal process and material parameters for the laser cladding process regarding the fatigue strength and locations of crack initiation. With the intent of calculating the residual stresses in the coating and the adjacent substrate, a FEM-based weld simulation model was developed. On the basis of the calculated residual stresses, the mechanical load situation during cyclic bending is simulated. In order to verify the FE models, round specimens have been laser cladded and analysed regarding clad quality, dilution and hardness as well as fatigue strength during a four-point bending test. The results from simulations and experiments are used as input for calculating the fatigue strength and locations of crack initiation. The Cobalt-based alloy Stellite 21 has been cladded on two substrate materials: the austenitic steel X5CrNi18-10 and the hardened and tempered steel 42CrMo4. Experimental analyses showed that the fatigue limits of the specimens strongly depend on the core materials. The fatigue strength of the steel 42CrMo4 has been figured out to be lower compared to that of the austenitic steel. It is assumed that these results are associated with different residual stresses. A model to simulate residual stresses induced by the cladding process has successfully been set up. Possibilities of fatigue-limit calculation using two approved models for hardened steels have been investigated.     

Influence of Substrate Material on Plain Fatigue and Fretting Fatigue Behavior of Detonation Gun Sprayed Cu-Ni-In Coating

Cu-Ni-In coating was formulated on two substrate materials—Ti-alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) and Al-alloy (AA 6063) fatigue test specimens using detonation gun (D-gun) spray process. Coating on both substrates was dense with low porosity, high hardness, and high surface roughness. Relatively higher surface compressive residual stress was present at the coating on Ti-alloy specimens. In case of the coating on Al-alloy samples, tensile residual stress was also present in some places. Uniaxial plain fatigue and fretting fatigue experiments were conducted on uncoated and coated specimens. The detrimental effect of life reduction due to fretting was relatively larger in the Al-alloy compared to the Ti-alloy. While Cu-Ni-In coating was found to be beneficial on the Ti-alloy, it was deleterious on the Al-alloy substrate under both plain fatigue and fretting fatigue loading. The results were explained in terms of differences in the values of surface hardness, surface roughness, surface residual stress, and friction stress.     

Effect of shot peening on residual stresses and crack closure in CVD coated hard metal cutting inserts

Chemical vapour deposited TiCN-Al₂O₃ hard coatings applied on hard metals may remain in a residual tensile stress state after production and sometimes they show a surface crack network. Shot peening treatments are used to introduce compressive residual stresses in the coatings and hard metal. The current work investigates dry shot peening treatments of hard metal coated by TiCN as base layer and α-Al₂O₃ as upper layer by means of finite element modelling. The simulations use experimentally parameterized material models for substrate and coatings. The influence of the coating roughness on plastification and stress development after shot peening is regarded and a number of 2D simulations with various combinations of speed, impact angles, and particle sizes are carried out. Additionally, the effect of compressive residual stresses and associated crack closure is investigated. The study reveals a number of recommendations for effective shot peening in terms of introduced compressive stresses and crack closure. Residual stress depth profiles from the calculations and experiments show good agreement for a chosen set of reasonable process parameters.     

Stress analysis of high temperature ZrO2 insulation coatings on Ag using finite element method

The aim of this study is to investigate residual stresses occurred during cooling procedure of ZrO₂ insulation coating on Ag substrate for magnet technologies. ZrO₂ coatings were produced on Ag tape substrate by using a reel-to-reel sol–gel technique. SEM inspection showed that ZrO₂ coatings had mosaic structures. ANSYS finite element software was used to calculate the temperature and stress distribution of the ZrO₂/Ag structure. The effect of coating thickness on residual stresses was also examined. The results obtained showed that thermal stresses in ZrO₂ coating and Ag substrate were considerably affected by the cooling time and coating thickness. It is concluded the thermal stresses increase with increase of film thickness.     

Evaluation of three dual-wire electric arc- sprayed coatings: Industrial note

Plasma-sprayed coatings of Ni-18.5Cr-6Al, molybdenum, and A1-12Si are used in selected applica-tions for dimensional restoration of jet engine hardware. These coatings are usually limited, how-ever, by the thickness to which they can be applied. In order to increase the coating thickness capability of these materials, the dual-wire electric arc process was investigated. This paper presents the results of a testing program to characterize the bond strengths, microstructure, hardness, and surface roughness of these three types of materials using a standard dual-wire electric arc spray sys-tem and a high-velocity (arc jet) spray gun. A comparison of bond strengths and microstructure to typical equivalent (in composition) plasma spray coatings was also made. The test program was de-signed to emulate, as closely as possible, substrate materials, spray application procedures, and coat-ing thicknesses that would be used in service.     

真空退火对TC4钛合金表面Ti/TiN多层复合涂层性能的影响

金属基体材料表面硬质膜层在服役过程中,残余应力在膜基界面以及膜层内部界面之间的积聚会导致膜层发生界面剥落失效。以TC4钛合金基体表面Ti/TiN多层复合膜层为研究对象,探讨真空退火对复合膜层结构及性能的影响,并表征退火前后复合膜层的界面划痕失效以及抗粒子冲蚀性能。结果表明,真空退火促进了膜层内部以及膜基界面两侧原子的热扩散,使得界面结构特征明显弱化。界面状态的改变使得复合膜层的表面显微硬度降低以及膜基结合强度提高。在划痕载荷作用下,复合膜层抵抗裂纹沿界面扩展的能力得到增强。真空退火有助于提高膜层的强韧性匹配,可有效抵抗小角度冲蚀粒子的犁削以及大角度粒子冲蚀下的疲劳,因此Ti/TiN多层复合膜层表现出较好的抗冲蚀性能。