Fabrice Crabos

Effects of Bond-Coat Preoxidation and Surface Finish on Isothermal and Cyclic Oxidation, High Temperature Corrosion and Thermal Shock Resistance of TBC Systems

A systematic study of the effects of bond-coats surface modifications prior to ceramic deposition is presented. TBC systems have been made and tested with most combinations of the following parameters: 1/substrate: IN 100 or AM3 (single crystal) Ni-based superalloys; 2/ bond-coat: VPS NiCoCrAlYTa or CoNiCrAlY, (Ni,Pd)Al, (Ni,Pt)Al; 3/ bond-coat surface finish: as deposited, machined, grit blasted, preoxidized; 4/ top coat: APS or EB-PVD Y 2 O 3 stabilized ZrO 2 . The preoxidation treatments of bond-coats were determined from the results of a study (TGA-GIXRD-SEM-SIMS) of their short-term (6 hours) isothermal oxidation behavior as a function of temperature (900 to 1100°C), oxygen partial pressure and heating rate. Under these conditions all bond-coats are alumina formers, but depending on the oxidation conditions, transition aluminas may be formed. The characterization of complete TBC systems was also performed, including isothermal oxidation (TGA), cyclic oxidation at 1100°C, cyclic corrosion at 900°C and thermal shock (fast cooling from 1200°C).

Influence of Environment on Creep Properties of MC2 Single Crystal Superalloy at 1150°C

In order to reveal the effect of oxidation on thin blade walls, a new machine allowing tests up to 1250°C under controlled atmosphere has been designed. Creep tests were performed on MC2 single crystal superalloy at 1150°C, under hydrogenated argon and dry air, but also with a switch from one atmosphere to the other after reaching the steady state creep stage. The results point out the decrease of the minimum creep rate in case of tests performed or at least started under hydrogenated argon, compared with the value obtained under synthetic dry air. This effect of oxidation was attributed to the protective oxide scale formed under hydrogenated argon. The low growth rate of alumina layer leads to a thinner zone affected by metal consumption, which is assumed to be non bearing, and prevents from vacancy flux toward the alloy. The second point results in slowing down creep mechanisms controlled by diffusion and therefore dislocation motion and microstructure evolution. Thermogravimetric tests confirm the difference of oxidation kinetics regards to environment (hydrogenated argon and dry air). However, oxide scales have different microstructures on thermogravimetric and creep samples when tested under air.

Mechanical and Thermo-physical Properties of Plasma-Sprayed Thermal Barrier Coatings: A Literature Survey

Atmospheric plasma-sprayed thermal barrier coatings (APS TBCs) have been studied from an extensive review of the dedicated literature. A large number of data have been collected and compared, versus deposition parameters and/or measurement methods, and a comparison was made between two different microstructures: standard APS coatings and segmented coatings. Discussion is focused on the large scattering of results reported in the literature even for a given fabrication procedure. This scattering strongly depends on the methods of measurement as expected, but also—for a given method—on the specific conditions implemented for the considered experimental investigation. Despite the important scattering, general trends for the correlation of properties to microstructure and process parameters can be derived. The failure modes of TBC systems were approached through the evolution of cracking and spalling at various life fractions.