Alfredo Valarezo

Effect of Deposition Rate on the Stress Evolution of Plasma-Sprayed Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia

The deposition rate plays an important role in determining the thickness, stress state, and physical properties of plasma-sprayed coatings. In this article, the effect of the deposition rate on the stress evolution during the deposition (named evolving stress) of yttria-stabilized zirconia coatings was systematically studied by varying the powder feed rate and the robot-scanning speed. The evolving stress during the deposition tends to increase with the increased deposition rate, and this tendency was less significant at a longer spray distance. In some cases, the powder feed rate had more significant influence on the evolving stress than the robot speed. This tendency can be associated with a deviation of a local deposition temperature at a place where sprayed particles are deposited from an average substrate temperature. At a further higher deposition rate, the evolving stress was relieved by introduction of macroscopic vertical cracks as well as horizontal branching cracks.

Elastic and Anelastic Behavior of TBCs Sprayed at High-Deposition Rates

Coatings sprayed at high-deposition rates often result in stiff, dense, and highly stressed coatings. The high deposition temperature at which the coatings are formed is responsible for these characteristics. In this paper, TBCs were sprayed at high-deposition rates, increasing the tensile quenching stresses beyond the threshold of crack opening during spraying. Dense structures were observed within a pass, in the presence of micro and macro defects specifically horizontal cracks within interpasses and vertical segmentation cracks. Mechanical properties, mainly the elastic and anelastic behavior of TBCs were significantly affected by the strain accommodation and friction occurring within intersplats and interpass interfaces. The strain tolerance obtained in as-sprayed conditions decreased as the microstructure and defects sintered during high-temperature heat cycles. The non-linearity degree decreased while the elastic modulus of the various coatings increased to a maximum value.

Neutron Through-Thickness Stress Measurements in Coatings with High Spatial Resolution

A great variety of techniques are nowadays used to spray coatings with different functionality and properties for the purpose of surface enhancement. Depending on application and design, these can be thermal (plasma or high-velocity oxy-fuel are the most widely used) and warm or cold spraying, which are known to generate considerable residual stresses. This stress is a function of the spaying process as well as the material and thickness of the coating-substrate system. The mechanical integrity of coatings is critical for certain applications, e.g. wear resistant and thermal-barrier coatings, hence residual stress control and mitigation are essential in preventing the coating’s mechanical failure, improving the coating’s performance and the its operational lifetime. Although hole drilling technique or x-ray diffraction combined with layer removal method can be applicable for stress measurements in coatings, the neutron diffraction stress analysis also provides an effective and efficient tool for non-destructive through-thickness stress measurements with a commensurately high resolution, down to 0.1-0.2 mm. The most recent results of neutron diffraction stress measurements in coating systems are presented herein.