Maria Ophelia Jarligo

Plasma-Sprayed Thermal Barrier Coatings: New Materials, Processing Issues, and Solutions

Growing demands on thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) for gas turbines regarding their temperature and cyclic capabilities, corrosion resistance, and erosion performance have instigated the development of new materials and coating systems. Different pyrochlores, perovskites, doped yttria-stabilized zirconia, and hexaaluminates have been identified as promising candidates. However, processing these novel TBC materials by plasma spraying is often challenging. During the deposition process, stoichiometric changes, formation of undesired secondary phases or non-optimum amorphous contents, as well as detrimental microstructural effects can occur in particular. This article describes these difficulties and the development of process-related solutions by employing diagnostic tools.

Plasma Spray Physical Vapor Deposition of La1−xSrxCoyFe1−yO3−δ Thin-Film Oxygen Transport Membrane on Porous Metallic Supports

Plasma spray physical vapor deposition (PS-PVD) is a very promising route to manufacture ceramic coatings, combining the efficiency of thermal spray processes and characteristic features of thin PVD coatings. Recently, this technique has been investigated to effectively deposit dense thin films of perovskites particularly with the composition of La0.58Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3−δ (LSCF) for application in gas separation membranes. Furthermore, asymmetric type of membranes with porous metallic supports has also attracted research attention due to the advantage of good mechanical properties suitable for use at high temperatures and high permeation rates. In this work, both approaches are combined to manufacture oxygen transport membranes made of gastight LSCF thin film by PS-PVD on porous NiCoCrAlY metallic supports. The deposition of homogenous dense thin film is challenged by the tendency of LSCF to decompose during thermal spray processes, irregular surface profile of the porous metallic substrate and crack and pore-formation in typical ceramic thermal spray coatings. Microstructure formation and coating build-up during PS-PVD as well as the annealing behavior at different temperatures of LSCF thin films were investigated. Finally, measurements of leak rates and oxygen permeation rates at elevated temperatures show promising results for the optimized membranes.

Functionally Graded Thermal Barrier Coatings with Improved Reflectivity and High-Temperature Capability

Conventional thermal barrier coating (TBC) systems consist of a duplex structure with a metallic bondcoat and a ceramic, heat isolative topcoat. In modern TBCs the ceramic topcoat is 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 as pyrochlores or perovskites are used as topcoat layers. These systems demonstrated an improved temperature capability compared to standard YSZ. Examples of such systems will be shown. In modern gas turbines the increased temperatures and gas pressures lead to an increased fraction of radiative heat flow. Coatings with increased reflectivity can be used to avoid the direct heating of the metallic substrates by this radiation. An effective method to produce such coatings is suspension plasma spraying. These reflective coatings are deposited on top of the TBC system and will lead to a further grading and improved performance of the coating.

Thermal Evolution of Single Phase Lanthanum Zirconate

Lanthania (La2O3) and zirconia (ZrO2) powders in ethanol based suspension were mechanochemically treated in a planetary ball mill for 12 hours at 200 rpm, dried and sintered at various temperatures from 400 to 1500. Particles in nanometer sizes are produced after milling. X-ray diffractometry results show the formation of single phase lanthanum zirconate on subsequent heat treatment for 1h at 1500. Phase evolution based on the intensities of the XRD plots and BET surface area analysis indicates three stages of crystallization: below 800, between 800 and ~1100, and above 1100 where reflections of La2Zr2O7 with pyrochlore structure are increased with further heating. Only endothermic energy peaks are observed in the differential thermal analysis (DTA) curve of the milled powders, which could be attributed to the reactions involving dehydroxylation, decarboxylation and complete disintegration of ethanol. This indicates that probably, lanthanum zirconate has grown on sintering at high temperatures from the very fine particles produced by mechanochemical activation during milling. Thermogravimetric analysis has recorded a total weight loss of ~9% from the original weight of the milled powder on sintering at 1500. The values of the surface area of the powders are found to decrease while the crystallite size of La2Zr2O7 are increased with increasing temperature.