The aim of this study is to develop the next generation of production ready air plasma sprayed thermal barrier coating with a low conductivity and long lifetime. A number of coating architectures were produced using commercially available plasma spray guns. Modifications were made to powder chemistry, including high purity powders, dysprosia stabilized zirconia powders, and powders containing porosity formers. Agglomerated & sintered and homogenized oven spheroidized powder morphologies were used to attain beneficial microstructures. Dual layer coatings were produced using the two powders. Laser flash technique was used to evaluate the thermal conductivity of the coating systems from room temperature to 1200 °C. Tests were performed on as-sprayed samples and samples were heat treated for 100 h at 1150 °C. Thermal conductivity results were correlated to the coating microstructure using image analysis of porosity and cracks. The results show the influence of beneficial porosity on reducing the thermal conductivity of the produced coatings. © 2010 ASM International.

The aim of this study was the further development of dysprosia stabilised zirconia coatings for gas turbine applications. The target for these coatings was a longer lifetime and higher insulating performance compared to today's industrial stan dard thermal barrier coating. Two morphologies of ceramic top coat were studied; one using a dual layer systems and the second using a polymer to generate porosity. Evaluations were carried out using laser flash technique to measure thermal properties. Lifetime testing was conducted using thermal shock testing and thermo-cyclic fatigue testing. Microstructure was assessed with SEM and Image analysis used to characterise porosity content. The results show that coatings with an engineered microstructure give performance twice that of the present reference coating.

Dysprosia stabilised zirconia coatings offer a potential reduction in thermal heat transfer for thermal barrier coating systems with the added benefit of being producible with existing equipment and spray knowledge. However, there is little information on the long term performance of such systems relative to the standard coatings. While a low thermal conductivity is important for a gas turbine; sintering resistance is important to maintain properties over the lifetime of a component.

In this study, four dysprosia stabilised zirconia coatings are compared with a standard yttria stabilised coating in present industrial use.

Samples were exposed to isothermal furnace conditions at 1150 °C from 5 to 200 hours to observe the sintering resistance of the coating systems. Tests carried out include microstructural analysis with SEM, thermal conductivity measurements using laser flash analysis and porosity changes monitored using image analysis.

Dysprosia-stabilized zirconia (DySZ) is a promising candidate to replace yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) as a thermal barrier coating due to its lower inherent thermal conductivity. It is also suggested in studies that DySZ may show greater stability to high temperature phase changes compared to YSZ, possibly allowing for coatings with extended lifetimes. Separately, the impurity content of YSZ powders has been proven to influence high-temperature sintering behavior. By lowering the impurity oxides within the spray powder, a coating more resistant to sintering can be produced. This study presents both high purity and standard purity dysprosia and YSZ coatings and their performance after a long heat treatment. Coatings were produced using powder with the same morphology and grain size; only the dopant and impurity content were varied. Samples have been heat treated for exposure times up to 400 h at a temperature of 1150 °C. Samples were measured for thermal conductivity to plot the evolution of coating thermal properties with respect to exposure time. Thermal conductivity has been compared to microstructure analysis and porosity measurement to track structural changes. Phase analysis utilizing x-ray diffraction was used to determine differences in phase degradation of the coatings after heat treatment. © 2013 ASM International.