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Conventional thermal barrier coating (TBC) systems consist of a duplex structure with a metallic bondcoat and a ceramic, heat-isolative topcoat. Several recent research activities are concentrating on developing improved bondcoat or topcoat materials; for the topcoat especially, those with reduced thermal conductivity are investigated. Using advanced topcoat materials, the ceramic coating can be further divided into layers with different functions. One example is the double-layer system in which conventional yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is used as bottom and new materials such as pyrochlores or perovskites are used as topcoat layers. These systems demonstrated an improved temperature capability compared to standard YSZ. In addition, new functions are introduced within the TBCs. These can be sensorial properties that can be used for an improved temperature control or even for monitoring remaining lifetime. Further increased application temperatures will also lead to efforts for a further improvement of the reflectivity of the coatings to reduce the radiative heat transfer through the TBC.

Thermal spray coatings produced from nanostructured ceramic agglomerated powders were tailored for different applications, some of which required almost completely opposite performance characteristics (e.g., anti-wear and abradable coatings). The influence of nanostructured materials on important areas, such as, thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) and biomedical coatings was also investigated. It was determined that by controlling the distribution and character of the semi-molten nanostructured agglomerated particles (i.e., nanozones) embedded in the coating microstructure, it was possible to engineer coatings that exhibited high toughness for anti-wear applications or highly friable for use as abradables, exhibiting abradability levels equivalent to those of metallic-based abradables. It is shown that nanozones, in addition to being very important for the mechanical behavior, may also play a key role in enhancing and controlling the bioactivity levels of biomedical coatings via biomimetism. This research demonstrates that these nanostructured coatings can be engineered to exhibit different properties and microstructures by spraying nanostructured ceramic agglomerated powders via air plasma spray (APS) or high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF). Finally, in order to present readers with a broader view of the current achievements and future prospects in this area of research, a general overview is presented based on the main papers published on this subject in the scientific literature.

Hundreds of different types of coatings are used to protect a variety of structural engineering materials from corrosion, wear, and erosion, and to provide lubrication and thermal insulation. Of all these, thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) have the most complex structure and must operate in the most demanding high-temperature environment of aircraft and industrial gas-turbine engines. TBCs, which comprise metal and ceramic multilayers, insulate turbine and combustor engine components from the hot gas stream, and improve the durability and energy efficiency of these engines. Improvements in TBCs will require a better understanding of the complex changes in their structure and properties that occur under operating conditions that lead to their failure. The structure, properties, and failure mechanisms of TBCs are herein reviewed, together with a discussion of current limitations and future opportunities.

The most advanced thermal barrier coating (TBC) systems for aircraft engine and power generation hot section components consist of electron beam physical vapor deposition (EBPVD) applied yttria-stabilized zirconia and platinum modified diffusion aluminide bond coating. Thermally sprayed ceramic and MCrAlY bond coatings, however, are still used extensively for combustors and power generation blades and vanes. This article highlights the key features of plasma spray and HVOF, diffusion aluminizing, and EBPVD coating processes. The coating characteristics of thermally sprayed MCrAlY bond coat as well as low density and dense vertically cracked (DVC) Zircoat TBC are described. Essential features of a typical EBPVD TBC coating system, consisting of a diffusion aluminide and a columnar TBC, are also presented. The major coating cost elements such as material, equipment and processing are explained for the different technologies, with a performance and cost comparison given for selected examples.

Pure Sn coatings are prepared by pulse current (PC) electrodeposition using aqueous acidic sulfate plating bath. The effects of various electroplating parameters such as current density, additive concentration, duty cycle, frequency, pH, bath temperature, and stirring rate (bath rotation) on the evolution of surface morphology of the coatings have been studied. The as-deposited coatings are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and surface profilometry. It is found that the current density, additive concentration, duty cycle, frequency, and pH have a major influence while temperature and stirring rate of the bath have a minor effect on the grain-size distribution. The mechanism involved in the morphology evolution and grain-size distribution due to the varying electroplating parameters has also been discussed.

A new finite element model is used to investigate catastrophic failures of a thermal barrier coatings system due to crack propagation along the interfaces between the ceramic top-coat, thermally grown oxide, and bond-coat layers, as well as between the lamellas structure of the ceramic layer. The thermo-mechanical model is designed to take into account a non-homogenous temperature distribution and the effects of the residual stresses generated during the coating process. Crack propagation is simulated using the contact tool “Debond” present in the ABAQUS finite element code. Simulations are performed with a geometry corresponding to similar or dissimilar amplitudes of asperity, and for different thicknesses of the oxide layer. The numerical results have shown that crack evolution depends crucially on the ratio of the loading rate caused by growth and swelling of the oxide layer and also on the interface roughness obtained during the spraying of coatings.

Atmospherically sprayed thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are nowadays an essential part in modern gas turbines. However, a design integrated use of these coatings is only possible with reliable lifetime models. In this paper, a model is outlined which describes the major failure in TBCs associated with the growth of a thermally grown oxide (TGO) on the bond coat (BC). An essential part of the model is a simplified description of the crack growth as a result of thermal cycling and TGO growth. In addition, the energy release rate for the system is calculated and compared to an estimated critical energy release rate reduced by the crack growth. If both are equal, failure is assumed. The results of the modeling are compared to thermal cycling experiments partly applying a thermal gradient. BC temperatures and also microstructures of the ceramic topcoat have been varied and the influence on the cyclic life studied.

A review is presented of how heat transfer takes place in plasma-sprayed (zirconia-based) thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) during operation of gas turbines. These characteristics of TBCs are naturally of central importance to their function. Current state-of-the-art TBCs have relatively high levels of porosity (~15%) and the pore architecture (i.e., its morphology, connectivity, and scale) has a strong influence on the heat flow. Contributions from convective, conductive and radiative heat transfer are considered, under a range of operating conditions, and the characteristics are illustrated with experimental data and modeling predictions. In fact, convective heat flow within TBCs usually makes a negligible contribution to the overall heat transfer through the coating, although what might be described as convection can be important if there are gross through-thickness defects such as segmentation cracks. Radiative heat transfer, on the other hand, can be significant within TBCs, depending on temperature and radiation scattering lengths, which in turn are sensitive to the grain structure and the pore architecture. Under most conditions of current interest, conductive heat transfer is largely predominant. However, it is not only conduction through solid ceramic that is important. Depending on the pore architecture, conduction through gas in the pores can play a significant role, particularly at the high gas pressures typically acting in gas turbines (although rarely applied in laboratory measurements of conductivity). The durability of the pore structure under service conditions is also of importance, and this review covers some recent work on how the pore architecture, and hence the conductivity, is affected by sintering phenomena. Some information is presented concerning the areas in which research and development work needs to be focussed if improvements in coating performance are to be achieved.

Low melting temperature materials such as polymers are known to be difficult to deposit using traditional cold spray techniques. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models were created for various nozzle geometries and flow conditions. A schlieren optical system was used to visualize the density gradients and flow characteristics in the free jet impingement region. Based on the CFD models, it was determined that a diffuser placed into the carrier gas flow near the nozzle exit not only leads to lower particle impact velocity required for polymer deposition, but also provides for appropriate application of compression heating of the particles to produce the conditions necessary at impact for successful coating adhesion of these materials. Experiments subsequently confirmed the successful deposition of polyethylene powder onto a 7075-T6 aluminum substrate. Using air as the carrier gas, polyethylene particles of 53-75 μm diameter and 0.94 g/cm 3 density , were cold spray deposited onto the aluminum substrate, with a critical impact velocity of 191 m/s. No apparent melting of the polymer particles was observed. Refinements to these concepts are currently under investigation and a patent disclosure for the idea is pending.

The atmospheric corrosion of coated steel samples with artificial defects was characterized to determine the environmental variables that are important in the corrosion process. Coated steel samples were exposed to different climates in Hawaii, Florida, and Ohio. The iron oxides formed under the coating were identified with Raman spectroscopy, which allowed the corrosion mechanisms to be deduced. Those mechanisms were influenced by the time of wetness (TOW) and the deposition rate of chloride and sulfur that were measured at the different sites. Two corrosion morphologies were observed: bead-like corrosion was formed in the defect vicinity and filiform corrosion (FFC) was initiated from the bead-like corrosion. Bead-like corrosion was influenced by the TOW and the salt deposition, whereas FFC grew in the humid environment, but its mechanism was independent of the salt deposition. At almost all of the sites tested, chloride was the only salt that participated in the corrosion process.