Assessment of the Oxidation Resistance of Bond Coats Used in Thermal Barrier Coatings

Abstract

Coatings are increasingly used as an alternative in advanced engineering projects. Coatings can be applied by various techniques and processes, depending on the specific condition as intended. Thermal Barrier Coatings, known as TBC, are part of a special series of metal-ceramic coatings with traditional use in the aviation industry and increasing application in the automotive and power generation turbine industries. They consist basically of two layers, a metallic bond coat and a ceramic top coat. A major problem is TBC degradation due to oxidation at high temperature of the bond coat, forming an oxide layer known as TGO, leading to complete failure of the coating. The present study investigates and compares the oxidation behavior of a NiAl bond coat, which is one of the widely used materials due to its characteristics at high temperatures and good adhesion to various substrates. The bond coat was applied to an SAE 1020 steel substrate by Flame Spray. To achieve the isothermal oxidation tests, the furnace equipment was set to a temperature of 1000 °C in static air atmosphere, with exposure of the samples at 24, 48 and 96 hours and cooling done in air at room temperature. Analysis of the thermally grown oxide (TGO) in each sample was performed by relating the exposure times, assessing the oxidation rate by measuring the mass gain of the samples with oxidized coatings and analysis by Optical and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).

Key-words:
Coating; TBC; Thermal barrier coating; Thermal spray; Oxidation