Multidisciplinary approach for investigating the hot corrosion behavior of thermal barrier coatings

Herein, we propose a new multidisciplinary approach for investigating the corrosion behavior of thermal barrier coatings, combining the thermal-gradient mechanical fatigue method with hot corrosion tests. Corrosive salts (Na₂SO₄; V₂O₅) of varying concentrations (10?20 mg/cm²) were deposited on the surface of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) coatings to evaluate the microstructural changes occurring during the reaction, via thermal graded mechanical fatigue tests. The tests were conducted at a surface temperature of 1150 °C in 10 min cycles and underwent applied uniaxial tensile loads. The corrosion tests show that the ZrV₂O₇ plays an important role as an intermediate in the collapse of the lamellar structures during the reaction, which results from the repetitive precipitation of V₂O₅ and m-ZrO₂ from the ZrV₂O₇. The microstructure of corroded YSZ coatings exhibited a different degradation mechanism under a thermomechanical environment, compared with the testing under isothermal atmospheric conditions.