Effects of Composition, Structure Design, and Coating Thickness of Thermal Barrier Coatings on Thermal Barrier Performance

Abstract

The effects of composition, structure design, and coating thickness of thermal barrier coating (TBC) on thermal barrier performance were investigated by measuring the temperature differences of TBC samples. TBCs with the thin and thick top coats were used for these studies, including TBCs with rare-earth (Gd, Yb, and La) compositions. The thermal barrier performance was enhanced with increasing the thickness of top coat even for thin TBCs, indicating that the thermal barrier performance was commensurate to the thickness of top coat. On the other hand, the bi-layered TBC, which was prepared with Yb-Gd-YSZ feedstock powder, with the buffer layer of high purity 8YSZ showed a better thermal barrier performance than that of regular purity 8YSZ. The interfaces in the bi-layered TBCs had a decisive effect on the thermal barrier performance, showing the performance enhanced with increasing numbers of interfaces. However, a new structural design and an additional process should be considered to reduce stress concentrations and to ensure interface stability, respectively, for improving thermal durability in the multilayered TBCs.