Characterization of a cyclic displacement instability for a thermally grown oxide in a thermal barrier system Original Research Article

The mechanism responsible for the performance of a commercial thermal barrier system upon thermal cycling has been investigated. It comprises an electron beam physical vapor deposited (EB–PVD) yttria-stabilized zirconia thermal barrier coating (TBC) on a (Ni,Pt)Al bond coat. At periodic interfacial sites, the thermally grown oxide (TGO) that forms between the TBC and the bond coat at high temperature displaces into the bond coat with each thermal cycle. These displacements induce strains in the superposed TBC that cause it to crack. The cracks extend laterally as the TGO displaces, until those from neighboring sites coalesce. Once this happens, the system fails by large scale buckling. The displacements are accommodated by visco-plastic flow of the bond coat and “vectored” by a lateral component of the growth strain in the TGO. They depend upon the initial morphology of the metal/oxide interface. The observed responses are compared with the predictions of a ratcheting model.