Characterization of thermal barrier coatings with a gradient in porosity

A major problem in thermal barrier coatings (TBC) applied to gas turbine components is the spallation of ceramic coating under thermal cycling processes. In order to prevent spallation and improve the thermomechanical behaviour of the TBC, graded ceramic coatings can be produced. For this purpose we are developing a new concept of Thermal Barrier Coating (TBC) that consist of a conventional NiCoCrAlY bond coat and an atmospheric plasma sprayed ZrO2–8 wt.%Y2O3 top coat graded in porosity on an Inconel 738 LC substrates. The aim of this work is to produce coatings with low thermal conductivity and better thermomechanical behaviour due to the gradient in porosity which reflects a gradient in the elastic properties. Absolute porosity was measured with a mercury porosimetry and by image analysis. The second technique was also used to estimate the porosity variation along the cross-section. Optical Microscopy (OM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were used to observe the morphology and coating microstructure. The microhardness was measured with a Vickers indenter and 0.981 N load. The microhardness has been evaluated for coatings in as-sprayed condition and after annealing at 1100 °C during 100 h. The results show a fast increase of the hardness after annealing. After thermal shock heating at 1000 °C, 1 h and quickly cooling in water no spallation was observed for 100 cycles.